School’s Out—Forever, Again?
by MoreThanHer
Summary: This is the second book completely in Fang's POV. It's mainly to help me get used to the site but I also thought it would be fun. Slight Fax the whole way through. Rated T for teen book and swearing, but there's nothing TOO bad. COMPLETE
1. The Story Begins, Again

**Okay! This is the second book according to Fang. I just thought it'd be a fun little something to do while putting together some more original ideas. Each of these chapters start and end where the chapters in the book do. So they're going to be short but I'll be able to update more often. I'm aiming for 2 or 3 times a day before school starts up again. (My school, not_ the_ School)**

**I think that's it...**

**-rubber band hits head knocking sense into me- oh ya! Disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer of DOOM: I do not own Maximum Ride or any of it's amazing plots or characters. **

**I do however claim Iggy II. He's like Max II, but Iggy. Say hi!**

**Iggy II: Uh...hi?**

**Me: Muahahaha...**

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_I don't get it._

That's what I kept thinking whenever I did a flip or a mile long dive through the air. I mean, we had barely escaped getting captured—_again_. And before that we discovered that one of the only people we ever trusted—who was supposed to be _dead_—was not only alive but working against us.

Then to top it all off Max had killed someone. And not just anyone, but Ari. Ya he was an evil Eraser who almost killed me, but we had known him before all that. Back when he was just an ordinary little kid. And that's what made it all kind of unbelievable.

Buy yet, after all that, here we were: smiling and laughing as we played tag and continued on our way to our next destination.

I guess life is just weird like that, huh?

As I was practicing one of the tricks we had picked up from the hawks I saw the Gasman get a mischievous look on his face. _Oh God, _I thought. _Not again._

"Oh my, gosh!" He exclaimed, pointing in a random direction. "A UFO!"

I moaned inwardly and looked over at Max. She had her eyes closed and I could tell by the set of her jaw that she was trying to keep her irritation at bay.

Finally she opened her eyes and gave The Gasman a stern, leader-y look. "That was funny the first fifty times, Gazzy," she said in a stern yet motherly voice. It was impressive how she was able to keep her annoyance from showing. Heh, and she called _me _emotionless.

"It's getting old," she finished and the Gasman smiled sheepishly before flying over to where Iggy was. I heard the word "detonators" and immediately tuned out their conversation. Ignorance is always best with those two...

"Max?" came Nudges voice from behind me, pulling me out of my thoughts. "How long till we get to DC?" I could tell she was tired, and judging by the look of concern on her face, so could Max.

"Another hour? Hour and a half?" she estimated.

Nudge stayed quiet—a rare occurrence with her—and I saw Max glance casually at each of, seeing how we were holding up. She, Ig, and I were all doing fine. But the younger kids, especially Angel and Gazzy, looked like they were ready to drop out of the sky.

I watched as Max switched Total to her other arm. He squirmed a bit but then settled down quickly. I saw a flash of irritation in her eyes and smirked to myself. She still hadn't forgiven me for letting Angel have a dog.

I looked around and noticed that we had fallen behind the others and used that as my chance to talk to her.

"You okay?" I asked, hoping she'd guess what my true topic was. She didn't.

"In what way?" she questioned back. To the others she would have seemed unconcerned with the questioning, but I saw how her eyes hardened slightly as she mentally ran through our giant list of problems. "Can you be more specific?"

"Killing Ari," I know, subtle, huh? I've just never been one for beating around the bush. Being blunt was more my style.

I instantly regretted my words though. She tensed and her breathing halted for a second. Her eyes got a glazed over look as she relived that day: us running from whitecoats and Erasers, her fight with Ari, then her sitting on Ari's chest, beating the crap out of him, and finally: her smashing Ari's head into a wall.

"It was you or him," I said, my voice not once showing the remorse I was feeling bringing up the topic in the first place. "I'm glad you picked you." Wait! What!? I wasn't supposed to say that! I studied her for a reaction to that sudden nugget of... whatever that was.

Luckily she just let out a deep breathe and I saw her shoulders relax a bit. I bet she was thinking about what Jeb had yelled to her when we were escaping through the sewers. That last line that had made me feel uneasy for the rest of the day.

"You killed your own brother!"

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**Okay, I don't think that was half bad. I'll be putting up the second chapter before I start asking for reviews. You know, unless you_ want_ to review. It would make me happy!**

**Iggy II: She's nicer when she's happy.**

**Me: -_-**

**Review?  
**


	2. Muahahaha?

**Okay, here's Chapter 2. Enjoy!**

**Iggy II: I apologize ahead of time.**

**Me: For what?**

**Iggy II: For your lame attempts at humor.**

**Me: You know I could always make an Iggy III.**

**Iggy II: -gulp-**

**Disclaimer of disclaimer-ness: How about I tell you when I _do _own something?**

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Then again, Jeb was a traitor who tended to do traitorous things. So he was probably just messing with us.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder.... No, that's impossible. Ari was a dangerous, murdering, psychopath. And Max was... perfect.

**Can I tell her you said that? **Said a certain mind reading six-year old's voice in my head. **(A/N: Teehee! That sentence makes me giggle)**

_No Angel._ I said. I didn't even want to think that about Max much less have her _know_ I was thinking it.

**But it's so sweet! **She insisted. I saw her slowly start to drift towards Max.

_Angel... _I warned, starting to get a little panicked. Why did I even think that in the first place!?

**Relax Fang, I won't tell her...yet. **

_Angel, if you tell her then I'll drop Total._

She shot me a horrified look and then glanced at Total, still asleep in Max's arms. **You wouldn't, **she sent to me.

_I would._ I thought back

"Do you want me to take him?" she suddenly asked Max, gesturing to the small black dog in question. Great, now she's gonna wear herself out because I made her not trust people with her dog.

"No, that's okay." Max answered. Then she locked eyes with me and I saw an evil look cross her face. "I know," she said directing the comment to Angel but still looking at me. "Fang will take him."

_Muahahaha. _I thought as Max flew above me and lowered Total to where I could grab him.

**Fang! Please don't! **Angel was yelling in my head.

_You still planning on telling Max?_

There was a moment of silence and then I heard her sigh in my head. **No,** she said in defeat.

I was about to smirk in triumph—my version of triumphant laughter—when Total, who was now snuggled up to my chest, licked my face. I felt my face twist in disgust before I could put it back to it's normal mask. I saw Max trying not to laugh as she sped off to fly in the front of our group.

**In the words of you: Muahahaha!  
**

I sent Angel a glare and received an innocent look and a slight giggle.

I was starting to regret this whole 'you-can-have-a-dog' thing reeaaally fast.

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**Well there's chapter 2. The next one is going to be long because in the book it's done in Ari's POV. So I get to make up whatever I want. Mua-**

**Angel: -appears- Muahahaha! -dissapers-**

**Me: Little twerp stole my line...**

**Iggy II: I'm scared  
**


	3. The Flock equals Power Puff Girls?

**Okay, my computer was being so-**

**Iggy II: beep**

**Me: -annoying when I tried to upload this chapter. Hpefully this will work. 'Cause if it doesn't I'm throwin this piece of-**

**Iggy II: beep**

**Me: -out the window. Now, what you people really care about...**

**The disclaimer!!!**

**Disclaimer of...er...Muahahaha!: I don't own Maximum Ride, Jay's Market, Buzz-Inn Steak House, High-C, The Viking (I will miss you my home town hot spot...) or the Power Puff Girls. I also don't own my good buddy Brenda, who actually works at Contos but that does't matter right now.**

**Claimer-ness: I do own Albertan, because I couldn't find a map and Google tends to hate me so I made it up! :D****

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A little over an hour after the whole 'dropping-Total' incident Max signaled for us to land. We ended up landing in the park of a town called Albertan that wasn't too far from the New Jersey/Pennsylvania border.

It was a small town that was mostly residential neighborhoods. But after a bit of walking around we found the down town portion. There was a large parking lot on the left side of the main street that was surrounded by about a dozen shops. On the right side was a little drive in called "The Viking" and a mini-mart. There was also a library, a town hall, rec center, and another park.

It was around noon when we reached this part of town. We had left New York early that morning and hadn't eaten anything since yesterday. It was just a matter of time before—

"Ma-ax" Nudge moaned, sitting down on a bench in front of a grocery store called 'Jay's Market'. "I'm hu-ungry. Can we ple-ease get something to eat?"

"Ya Max," Gazzy chimed in. "We haven't eaten all day."

"Okay, okay," Max said, holding up her hands in surrender. "We can g—" but it was too late. Gazzy had started pulling Iggy across the street to The Viking and Nudge had run into Jay's and was picking up bags of chips and boxes of Twinkies.

"Max?" Angel asked, taking Max's hand.

Max sighed and looked down at Angel. All the frustration instantly left her face as soon as she locked eyes with her. She smiled and it lit up her face. "Ya, sweetie?"

"Can we go eat there?" She pointed with her free hand to our right to a wooden building that said "Buzz-Inn Steak House" over the door. I could already smell the burgers from where we were about 50 yards away.

"Sure." With another smile Max began leading Angel down to the restaurant. But not before Angle grabbed my left hand with her free one and pulled me away from the support beam I had been leaning against.

She smiled at me and then began pulling me and Max forward. I could only imagine what we must have looked like to everyone else. A boy and a girl walking along with a little girl skipping between them; a small black dog weaving in and out of their legs.

I bet we looked like a family.

At that thought Angel looked up at me and said, "Really?"

"Really what?" Max asked, looking at Angel and then me. I refused to meet her eyes though and kept looking forward.

Angel looked intently at Max for a second and then Max blinked a few times. She then looked at where Angel's hands were connected to mine and hers and then she did the last thing I expected her to do.

She smiled.

This time I met her eyes when she looked at me and I actually smiled back. A real smile too.

We had reached the front of the steak house and I used my free hand to push open the door and held it open for them.

We walked up to the front counter, Total sitting obediently at Angel's feet.

"How can I help you folks?" asked a woman from behind the counter. Her hair was long and was an orangish blonde color and she had kind golden brown eyes. Her skin was pale and she wasn't that tall, only about 5' 6''. She appeared to be in her twenties.

"Can I get 2 of your Big Mouth burgers, a basket of endless fries, a soda, and a chocolate milkshake?"

"Okay, that'll be—" she was cut off by me ordering.

"I'll have the same as her but with a Bacon burger thrown in."

"Um, okay that's—" Again she was interrupted but this time by Angel.

"I want a bowl of clam chowder," she glanced down at Total before continuing. "Make that two bowls, one of those Bacon things, a Vanilla shake, and a bowl instead of a glass."

"A bowl?" the lady asked, seeming taken aback.

"For my dog," Angel explained.

The girl, who's name tag read "Brenda", seemed hesitant but typed up our order into the register and then looked back at us. "Are you sure you'll be able to pay for this?" she asked.

Max pulled out her wallet and counted bills. She then pulled out a few and handed them to Brenda. "Yes, I'm sure."

Brenda counted the money and handed Max the change. "Here," she handed me a little metal stand with a plastic card on the top. "Put this on your table so we know what order you are. It may take a while though..." She trailed off as she hung our many tickets in the window behind her.

"That's fine, we'll wait." Max said. And with that she started walking over to a side room filled with tables. We picked once close to the door and Angel immediately pulled over another chair and put Total on it. After setting down our little card thing we went back out to fill the glasses (and bowl) the woman had given us.

"Oooooh! Look Max! They have High-C!" Angel jumped up and down as Max filled her glass and then looked at Angel.

"Oh no," Max said. I did a 360 to see what was wrong but noticed that Max was looking at the bowl in Angel's hands. "We didn't get you a glass."

"I know. High-C is Total's favorite. He won't admit it thow, has to kee up his cool dog rep." With that Angel pushed the bowl under the nozzle and filled it with the orange liquid.

Okay then.

We walked back to our little room and I found the remote to the TV in the corner. I turned it to the news but with a look from Angel changed it to Cartoon Network. Power Puff Girls was on. Oh Joy.

"You know," Angel said thoughtfully as she started drinking the milkshake that had been waiting on the table for us when we came back. "We're a lot like the Power Puff girls when you think about it."

Well I hadn't seen that one coming.

"How so?" Max asked.

"Well, we were created when a scientist was trying to make the perfect kids. So in that sense Jeb is sort of like Professor Plutonium. And your Blossom," she pointed to Max. "'cause you're the smartest and the leader."

Max looked a little disgusted and I smirked at her over Angel's head. That earned me her famous "I'm-gonna-kill-you-as-soon-as-we're-outta-here" glare.

"And I'm Bubbles," Angel continued, pointing to herself. "because I'm the fun loving baby of the group. And Fang's Buttercup—" she was cut off by Max suddenly bursting out laughing.

"I'm what!?" I was having a hard time keeping down the blush that was creeping up my face.

"You're Buttercup. You know, the quiet one with the black hair that's always grumpy and tomboyish? She wears that really cute green dress?"

Max was now in hysterics over in her seat. Her eyes were closed tight and her face was turning red.

"What's so funny Blossom?" I asked her. That shut her up. She glared at me and I smirked back.

"Nothing Buttercup," she retorted. Now we were both glaring. Well until Angel said the one word that could distract us.

"FOOD!"

Brenda and about five other employees brought in our food. When they set down Angel's bowl of clam chowder her eyes widened. It was in a giant bread bowl. "That looks sooooooo good," she said looking at it like it was a pile of gold.

Brenda chuckled softly making Angel look up at her.

"Thank you Brenda!" Angel said in her sweetest voice. She smiled at Brenda and I had to admit that she looked pretty cute.

"Aw, no problem sweetheart," she said. Angel beamed at her and then started digging into her food. Brenda smiled at me and Max. "You two have an adorable daughter," and before either of us could scoff and correct her she picked up the tray she had carried the food in on and walked out.

"Um..." Max said. I looked over at her and saw that she had turned a delicate pink. The extra color in her cheeks made her look—

**Beautiful?** Angel chimed in.

_No!_ I mentally smacked myself for forgetting about Angel's "gift". _I was thinking more along the lines of like a tomato with hair._

**Oh, okay,** She thought back. Out loud she said, "Max, Fang says you look like a tomato with hair."

Shit.

"What!?" Max looked at me with wide eyes. At first they were shocked, but that quickly turned to fury. But there had been something else in there. Embarrassment? Well yes, but something else. It almost looked like...hurt?

"That's not—"

"Were you going to say something else Fang?" Angel interrupted me. She gave me a pointed look. I thought as fast as I could. Stay with the current situation and have Max kick my butt or say what I had been really thinking and... have Max kick my butt. Hm, I seem to be stuck between a rock and a very angry Max.

_I hate you Angel,_ I thought in defeat.

"Never mind Max," Angel said. "He meant to say that when you were blushing it made you look—"

At that moment my savior walked in. And that savior's name was Nudge.

"Hi guys! I was walking by the window and saw you guys so I thought I'd come in and see what you little trio, sorry Total didn't see you there, I meant_ quartet_ were up to."

**(A/N: I have no idea if quartet means 4, but it sounded right)**

"Uh..." I looked over at Max to see that she actually looked a little disappointed. For a second I wondered if she had wanted to here me call her beautiful...

"Well you're free to join us," Max said, bouncing back quickly. Now that Nudge was here all the awkwardness from before had flown out the window. She and Angel talked while Max and I finished up our food.

When we were all finished we walked out the door, only to almost get run over by Iggy and Gazzy.

"Whoa guys, what's the rush?" Max asked.

"Erasers...six o'clock..." The Gasman got out between pants. They must have run pretty hard to be that out of breathe.

Max immediately snapped into Leader Mode. "Let's go," she said. We all followed her to the backside of the Buzz-Inn. When we made sure no one was back there we started taking off. Nudge jumped into the air, followed closely by Iggy who was holding a squirming Total. Angel then Gazzy took off next. Max and I went at the same time, the tips of our wings slightly brushing on the down strokes.

When we got into the air we looked behind ourselves and saw the group of about nine Erasers coming out of the Buzz-Inn. Before they could look up and see us we zoomed out of there as fast as we could.

Once we were about four miles away we turned in a large ark to go back in the direction of DC.

"Okay, since we're all well fed we should be able to get there by nightfall, no stops," It was taking a bit longer then planned before our little pit stop because Max was having us fly over only woods, no streets or roads. She didn't want to risk being spotted by Erasers. We also had to fly completely around Alberton.

"Sounds like a plan Captain Ketchup," I said from beside her.

"Shut up, Buttercup."

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**Me: Yay!**

**Iggy II: -snickers- Fang...Buttercup...**

**Me: You get to be the mayor with funny hat and big mustache!**

**Iggy II: Noooo!**

**Me: Anywho, next time: Flying pigs-**

**Iggy II: Erasers**

**Me: -what he said! Also, some emo poetry curtesy of Fangster himself! And -gasp- what's this!? More Muahahaha's!? Hoorah!**

**Iggy II: Yaaay....**

**Me: Also, I'm gonna start putting A/N's at the bottom and Disclaimers at the top. More organized that way.**


	4. Sigh Count

**Okay, scratch that thing about no A/N not beign at the top. They will be wherever the hell they want to be!!!**

**My computer is still being dumb...**

**Iggy II: Maybe you should blow it up and get a new one!**

**Me: Ig, don't be cliché. It's not as pretty as you think  
**

**Iggy II: I'm not being clithe! I do really only talk about blowing stuff up!**

**Max: And I love cookies. I would do anything for a cookie. I would trade Fang for a cookie...**

**Fang: Max! How could you! –leaves-**

**Iggy II: Nice Max II! Our evil plan is working!**

**Max and Iggy II: Muahahaha!!**

**Me: Okay, well while I try to figure out how these people are getting into my house you can read the next Chapter! :D**

**Claimer (with a dis): I no own nothin! Except the song/rhyme thing Fang and Angel do. I know I said it would be emo, but it turned out sorta...well, you'll see.  
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It was already getting dark out by the time we reached the outskirts of DC. No one was making much noise. Well, except for Nudge. She was chattering away at an oblivious Max. Her eyes were unfocused and she was probably talking to the Voice.

"Look at this, kids, we're learning geography!" I said with a fake smile. I was trying to distract everyone from their sleepy-ness. I got a few laughs and Max snapped out of her thoughts long enough to send me a small grin. I smirked back.

We started flying in silence again and I had to admit that I was pretty bored.

**Wanna play a game to pass the time? **Angel asked. I sighed, there wasn't much else to do.

**Yay!** She said, obviously reading my mind. **Okay, here's the game, I say a sentence and you say one that rhymes. Got it?**

Queue second internal sigh. Let's see how many of those I get in before the end of the 'game'.

**There once was a princess named Max...**

Sigh Count: 3

_Uh...who wanted to kill me with an ax._

**Why does Max want to kill you?  
**

_Because of a flying girl in blue..._

Angel smiled at my Power Puff Girls reference. _God I'm turning into such a sap._

**I think some one needs a nap**

_Ha. Ha. Ha.  
_

**Er... **there was a pause, and then:

**Muahaha?**

Sigh Count: 4

"Fang!" Max suddenly shouted. I looked up to see her looking with worry at a spot a little over my shoulder. "What's that? Behind us, at ten o'clock."

I frowned and turned to look. It sort of looked like we were being followed by a swarm of bugs.

"Too fast for a storm cloud," I reported. "Too small, too quiet for chopper. Not birds—too lumpy." I looked back at her. "I give up. What is it?"

"Trouble," she said with a grim expression. She turned to the rest of the Flock. "Angel! Get out of the way. Guys, heads up! We've got company!"

Gazzy looked sincerely perplexed as he asked, "Flying monkeys? Like _The Wizard of Oz_?"

I saw horror and realization dawn on Max's face, and for one crazy second I thought she was going to say he was right.

"No," she said, her voice sounding strained. "Worse. _Flying Erasers_."

I heard Iggy mutter something along the lines of, "Rather take the monkeys," but ignored it and got into a fighting position.

Time to kick some flying, mutated, murderous, wolf human, freak butt!

Sigh Count: 5

**Me: Okay, so that was Chap—**

**Mom: Hey, did you get your clothes together for the camping trip?**

**Me: -with horror- Camping trip!?**

**Mom: Yes, the one we've been packing all week for...  
**

**Me: Not ringing any bells.**

**Iggy II: No, no. I strictly remember her saying—  
**

**Me: Begone!**

**Iggy II: -Poof-  
**

**Mom: Well get ready. –walks away to leave me in my anti-nature-ness-**

**Me: Well, you heard it here first folks. I'm going camping. I will be back late on Monday. I'll hopefully have some chapters written in my notebook. Well, I'm gonna see if I can get another chapter in before the end of the day.**


	5. Fight Sequence!

**I'm gonna try to do this quick so I can post this before bed time (Yes I have a bed time SHUT UP!). Okay Ig, you wanna do the honor that is announcing the disclaimer? :D  
**

**...  
**

**Iggy?  
**

**...  
**

**Oh ya, I poofed him away. Poo.  
**

**Well, I'm off to look for Iggy II (or make Iggy III...). Enjoy the chapter!**

**ediR mumixaM now ton od I :remialcsiD**

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So, let's recap why my life sucks right now. I'm a mutant freak on the run for their life, I'm always in life or death situations, and I was currently being attacked by Flying werewolfs.

Greeeeat.

"Erasers, version 6.5," I muttered.

Max thought for a moment and then started shouting orders. "Split up!" she yelled. "Nudge! Gazzy! Nine o'clock! Angel, up top. Move it! Iggy and Fang, flank me from below! Fang, ditch the dog!"

"Nooo, Fang!" Angel yelled both aloud and in my head. She made Bambi eyes at me and I had no choice but to keep the dog with me. I flip my backpack to my front and opened it up. Total obediently hopped in and I zipped it up most of the way and then jumped into action.

There were about 30 of them in all and they were split up pretty evenly among us. I started sizing up one of the closest ones and noticed something interesting. He wasn't even paying attention to us. In fact, he seemed to be transfixed with looking at his giant Frankenstein wings. It was obvious that he was making sure that they kept flapping. I used that as my opening.

I lunged at him, aware that Max had done the same to another Eraser a few feet away. I chopped down with both hands on his neck. He screamed in pain and started falling.... And falling....and falling. I didn't get to see him hit because I was then jumped by two other Erasers.

I punched one it the side of his head and then dodged a kick that the other had aimed at my side. I kicked that one in the stomach and he dropped a few feet, trying to regain his breath.

I used the pause in fighting to kick him right in the nose. There was a loud _crack!_ And he started spiraling down to Earth.

The other Eraser managed to clip my chin with his big hairy paw. I used the momentum to spin backwards, my feet hitting him hard in the chest. As he tried to regain his balance I came back up and slammed my hands over his ears. As he fell to the ground screaming I saw another three Erasers coming at me. I nimbly rolled out of the way.

When I came out of my roll I saw that Max had taken my spot and was sending a strong side to kick to one of their jaws. Then she grabbed his arm and popped it out of it's socket with a loud _pop!_ She let him drop until he righted himself and flew away.

_Wow,_ I thought. _She's good_.

**Fang! Behind you!** Came Angel's voice in my head. I spun around and simultaneously pulled back a few feet. But it wasn't enough, the Eraser still managed to hit me in my right eye. It would probably be black by tomorrow morning.

I sent out a flurry of punches to it's head. After one last side kick to the thing's chest he started tumbling down.

I did a 360 just in time to see Max completely stilled in the sky, her eyes unfocused and her wings working on autopilot.

And to add to it all there was an Eraser about to seconds away from plowing into her from behind.

Well crap.

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**Okay, I have good news and bad news.**

**Good News: I will be doing a posting marathon on Tuesday because it's my last day of summer and I want as much of this up as I can. So hopefully I'll be able to make up for my absence for the next few days.**

**And now, the Bad News:**

**Iggy II has left us. No he is not dead; he is far too awesome to be dead. But he has decided to go on a little vacation of his own...with his true love...MAX II. That's right, him and Max II are dating. I thought it was weird but then I got their Christmas card and they looked so darn cute! Even though it's summer and no where near Christmas... oh well! He called and told me that he'd be sending me a replacement until they get back from ****Jamaica****. I wonder who it'll be....?**

**Also, I wanna see if I can get 10 (total) reviews by the time I get back. That's only 4! You can do it!! **

**And I want to give a mucho big thank you to my top reviewer: babiixilyx3! You rock girly/dude!  
**


	6. Even MORE Fighting!

**Okay! So while I was gone I got a **_**ton**_** of reviews AND a stalker! YAY! Well, here is the first chapter in the newly named: Posta-palooza! Enjoy!**

**P.S. Iggy (the original) showed up at my house with a note pinned to his shirt. It said: Max owed me. From, Max II. So yay! Iggy! Also, all of the A/N's were written while I was camping. Enjoy!**

**To be, or not be, that is the Disclaimer: Wether tis' nobler to say I do not own Maximum Ride, and suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous jealousy, or to say I do own it, and by doing so opening myself up to being sued? My choice: the former.**

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**I lunged forward, barely missing being tackled by another Eraser. The big goon went sailing by me and smashed into another one. They both started falling to the ground.

I hit the one heading for Max _just_ as his claws were scraping her jacket. I grabbed him around the middle and tackled him out of the sky. I sent a hard punch to the side of his head and he was out like a light. I let go and flew back up to where I could see Max. As I watched, she shook her head as if to clear it and then sped towards an Eraser.

My first thought was: Voice. I mean it had to be. She always got that dazed look on her face whenever she was talking to it. But my second thought was that it better shut up when she was fighting. Had I been there a second later and she would have been done for. Plus, I don't even think she saw my heroic act of chivalry.

I guess that's what you get for being selfless.

All of a sudden there was a furry wall of four Erasers in front of me, their big, toothy smiles in place. I sent a side kick to the biggest one in the middle. I had been aiming for his stomach but when he jumped at the last second I hit, uh...a bit lower. As you guess he wasn't much in the fighting spirit after that.

Through the gap in the group I could see Max going one on one with an Eraser of her own. I saw how she would throw two or three strong punches, fly out of reach, and then come back at a different angle. The Eraser was so big and clumsy that he couldn't even keep up.

I turned back to the three that were surrounding me and tried Max's technique. I threw a left and a right hook to one's head, then I flew quickly backwards.

That put me right in front of another. I kicked him in the chest with both feet and he went sailing backwards. He ran into another Eraser, there wings getting tangled together. As they fell they took another two with them that had been hovering below.

Well that worked.

I looked around to see Gazzy literally _roll_ past a group of Erasers; his wings hitting a few in the face on his way by. Ha, nice.

Iggy was holding up pretty well too. As I watched, he stuffed a bomb down the back of one's shirt. Then he pushed it into a big group of hair balls and flew away. Within seconds there was a _boom!_ and six or seven Erasers (or what was left of them) started falling back down to Earth. Two more were retreating.

I turned around only to see an Eraser hovering there; an evil grin on his face. His fist was already flying towards my face. I didn't even have time to react. Then, when his paw was _that close_, he froze.

He stayed there, the only thing moving on him was his wings. His furry hand was so close that when I exhaled, the hair on his knuckles moved.

He pulled his fist back; a confused look on his face. Then he waved, said, "Bye, bye.", and fell.

Okaaay.

I looked up from where I had been watching him fall to see that Angel had been behind him. I raised an eyebrow at her and she grinned.

_You're scary, you know that right?_ I thought to her.

"Muahahaha," and with that, she flew away.

Alright then.

I just rolled my eyes and did another 360. I looked to my left in time to see Max pull an Eraser off Nudge; whom was rubbing her hand around her throat.

There were only a few remaining and I decided to take the biggest one on my left.

I started punching him and then weaving away. Punching and weaving. Punching and weaving. The thing could barely move his 23 foot wingspan, much less keep up with my swiftly moving form.

"Come here you freak!" he bellowed.

Okay, I don't know why, but the flock and I have a really bad reaction to people calling us freaks.

As a result of this instinct, I got right in his face and ground out, "You...are...a...fridge...with...wings," saying every word with a punch to the head. I felt like punching him some more so I added, "We're...freaking...ballet...dancers."

By the time I was done, his face was a bloody mess. I watched as he fell like a bag of bricks.

"_Fang!_" Max shouted from behind me. I didn't even get a chance to respond before I felt claws rake my side. They went clean through my jacket and deep into my flesh.

I turned to see the last person I expected to.

_Ari._

He noticed that his comrades were falling back and started to go with them.

"We'll be back!" he snarled. I was too consumed in the burning emanating from my newest battle wound to comment on how cliche that sounded.

I looked over at Max and saw a look of horror and confusion on her face.

"Boy," I said, "you just can't kill people like you used to."

* * *

**Me: I love fight scenes.**

**Iggy: Especially ones with bombs. I can't see the damage but I sure can hear it.**

**Me: Explosions do tend to make things more interesting.**

**Iggy: Where are we exactly? It feels like a scene from Twilight here.**

**Me: What do you mean?**

**Iggy: -touches tree- Green. -touches bush- Green. -touches ground- Green. -touches lake- Eww. Even _that's _green. -wipes hand on my arm- Wow, your pale.**

**Me: Look who's talking...**

**RnR?**


	7. I'm Just Being Emo

**Me: Finally! Two hours of pumping air into air mattresses and setting up tents and I can finally relax!**

**Iggy: Not once when I've slept outside has it been in a tent. Much less one that takes an hour to set up.**

**Me: It would've been up faster if you'd helped.**

**Iggy: Hello? I'm blind.**

**Me: Oh yes, and that's always been _such_ a problem for you.**

**Iggy: :)**

**Disclaimer: If I owned anything then would I be putting a disclaimer? I think not.

* * *

**

**(Modern A/N: I wrote this while listening to Safety Dance by Men Without Hats, listen to it while reading this. I don't know why but it makes the chapter even better. Iggy: You are so weird.)**

After the last of the Erasers left, we stayed in the air; seeing if they'd come back. Only problem was that even if they did return; I would be completely useless.

My side hurt like hell dipped in gasoline, dropped into Mount Doom. I had my arm pressed to the shredded part of my jacket in a failed attempt to stop the bleeding. I could feel it soaking through the layers of fabric. And fast.

I saw Max watching my clumsy flying. "I'm fine," I said curtly. She thought for a second, her eyes lingering on me, before turning to the others.

"Angel? Gazzy? Nudge? Report," she ordered. I tried concentrating on her voice instead of the pain.

The Gasman said something about his leg and Angel announced that her dog and stuffed bear were okay. Yes, because Max really cares if Celeste's dress gets ripped.

Speaking of unimportant fur balls, Total's weight in my backpack was _killing_ me. I took him out and zipped him into Iggy's. "Hey!" he said at the extra weight. But I didn't care; just anything to ease the pain.

"I'm okay," said an obviously exhausted Nudge.

"My nose," Iggy said, the hand holding his nose semi covered in blood. "But no biggie."

"Okay, then," Max said. "We're almost to DC, and it should be easy to get lost in another big city. We good to go?"

We all nodded, and the rest of the flock started a graceful arc in the direction of DC. I, however, just settled for turning in an awkward circle.

We started flying and soon everyone was discussing the new form of Erasers. I didn't hear most of it though. I was too focused of not falling out of the sky from blood loss.

**What!?** Angel's voice rang through my head, giving me a bit of a headache.

_Relax Ange. I'm just being emo_.I thought back. I'd have to watch my thoughts from now on.

**Okay,** **if your sure...** I could tell she didn't believe me but I eventually felt alone in my head.

I looked down at my side to see that the usually black fabric of my jacket and shirt had a new reddish tint. The entire left side of my torso was soaked through with blood. The top of my jeans were turning red too, and it was becoming nearly impossible to flap my wings. That couldn't be good.

I bit my lips together to keep myself from moaning in pain. My wings were beating unevenly and I had fallen way behind the rest of the Flock.

Max seemed to notice that I was wasn't keeping up and dropped down beside me. I've never been very religious but I admit that I prayed to every deity in the book that she wouldn't make me talk. No such luck.

"What's going on?" she asked in her no-nonsense voice. I didn't want to worry her, I was the rock of the group. I couldn't let her see me weak.

"Nothing." Well there goes that plan. That one word took a crap load of energy and it still sounded weak and forced. I was _literally _lying through my teeth.

"Fang—" she stopped abruptly and her eyes widened. "Your arm!" she shouted.

"'S not my arm," I managed before my wings closed behind me. My mind got foggy and black spots started entering my vision.

The last thing I remembered was falling.

_Really _fast.

* * *

**Me: Oh no's! Fang!**

**Iggy: You already know what happens.**

**Me: Or do I?**

**Iggy: Do you?**

**Me: The world may never know...oh well!**

**Iggy: What's that noise? It sounds like a friggin' machine gun!**

**Me: That, Iggy is what Washington is famous for. Rain!**

**Iggy: At least it's pretty here.**

**Me: Ya it— Hey!**

**Iggy: Love blind jokes...**

**Review?  
**


	8. Dissapointed

**Me: Sorry, no A/N folks.**

**Iggy: isn't this an A/N?**

**Me: Damn.**

**Ye Olde Disclaimer: Thy doen't owneth Lady Maximum, nor her friends and foes.

* * *

**I died.

I must have, it's the only way to explain this darkness, this..._numbness._ I was being stupid and proud, and I died.

All I could see was the sky, blue and cloudless. Wait, what? A second ago I could only see black.

Suddenly Max was there. Her big brown eyes were filled with worry.

Then I recognized the beach we were on. The forest to our right with it's tall pines endless ferns. The rocky cliff a few hundred yards away that jutted out over the water. This was were Ari beat the crap out of me...the first time.

"Be okay," Max said, my head in her lap. "Just live and be okay."

Then she leaned down, and _right_ before she kissed me an explosion of pain came from my side.

My eyes fluttered open in time to hear Iggy say, " This feels real bad. _Real_ bad." His hands were running over the large slices in my side. Even though they were barely touching me, it still made me wince. "How much blood has he lost?"

I noticed that Max was leaning over me, worry obvious in her eyes.Déjà vu.

"A lot," she answered, fear in her voice.

"Jus' a scratch," I said fuzzily, my eyes opening a bit more. If there was one person who hated being seen as vulnerable more then Max, it was me.

"Shhh!" she scolded. Now the worry was mixed with relief and anger. "You should have told us you were hurt!"

I wanted to say sorry, that I was being stupid. But I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open, much less speaking.

So instead I watched her bark out orders. "Iggy, lift Fang's feet. Guys, you got those strips ready?" Iggy moved out of view and I got a little worried when I couldn't even feel him move my legs. Gazzy came over and handed Max a pile of shredded t-shirt.

She wadded up the shreds and pressed them against my side. A jolt of pain ripped through me and I gave out an almost inaudible moan. I bit down on my tongue to keep from shouting out all the very colorful words running through my head. I needed to focus on something else. The only thing there was though was Max.

I looked up at her and instantly felt guilty. Though she'd never admit it, she was scared. And it was all my fault.

I don't know why but I actually felt a little dissapointed. The last time I was in this situation, she had kissed me.

This time? Nothing.

_No! Bad Fang! _I scolded myself. I should be happy she wasn't kissing me. The time she had I was an inch from death. If she wasn;t kissing me, I should be fine.

Right?

And besides...she was my best friend...my...sister...my.... I could barely think, I was so tired.

**You love her.**I couldn't tell if it was Angel or my own thoughts. And at the moment I didn't really care.

All I knew was that when my eyes closed, there was a really good chance I wouldn't wake up. But the last thing I saw was Max, and that made things better.

* * *

**Iggy: Max and Fang, sitting in a tree.**

**Me: K-I-S-S-I-N-G!**

**Iggy: First comes love, then comes marriage.**

**Me: Then comes a tragic unplanned miscarriage.**

**Iggy: What**—

**Me: Then comes remorse, then despair, two hearts broken beyond repair,**

**Iggy: But**—

**Me: Max leaves Fang and takes the tree,**

**Iggy:...**

**Me: D-I-V-O-R-C-E.**

**Iggy:...Wow. That was depressing.**

**Me: yes. yes it was.**

**Review?  
**


	9. Dream

**Iggy: Isn't Fang unconscious for the next few chapters?**

**Me: Yup, most of these'll be in hi POV, but the rest are in the Flock's.**

**Iggy: Like me??**

**Me: Beggars can't be choosers.**

**Da Disclaimer: Yo dog, I don't own nottin'! So stop gettin' all up in my grill!**

**Iggy: -facepalm- you are so white...**

**Me: I know.

* * *

**I've never been one for dreams. When I was younger I was always in too much pain to slip into any real deep sleep.

But whenever I did dream, it was a nightmare. Only rarely did I have a happy dream where nothing went wrong.

This was not one of those times.

It started with me waking up in a hospital. The Flock was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly a door I hadn't noticed earlier opened up. A young guy in a long, white lab coat came into the room.

"Hey," he said in a voice you use with toddlers. "How ya doin' little buddy?" He flashed a big perfect smile my way. It didn't reach his cold gray eyes though.

I growled at him.

He wasn't even phased. He just smiled again and picked up the chart from the end of the bed.

"Hm...interesting..." he muttered, flipping through the pages.

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

"It says here that you're being moved to a new facility in California. The uh," he checked the chart before continuing. "Ah, yes. The School.

I froze. The School? No. No, Max wouldn't let wouldn't let them. None of the Flock would.

At that thought, the door opened again and Max walked in.

"Hey fang," she said in the same fake happy voice as the doctor. She turned the guy and said, "I assume you told him about the transfer?"

"Yes ma'am," he said.

"Hey!" I said loudly to get her attention. "You _know_ they're sending me to the school?" That made no sense! Max would never let anyone be sent to that hell hole!

"Of coarse silly," she said, coming over to my side. "I'm the one sending you there." She gave me a big fake smile.

I started to get out of the bed but found that I was strapped down. When did that happen?

"Don't fight it Fang," she said.

"Your not Max!" I shouted. What the hell was happening!?

"Yes I am." She sounded hurt. Good.

"The real Max wouldn't send me to the School!" I yelled, still trying to break free. The strap on my left wrist wrist was cutting into the skin. A thin line of blood ran down my arm.

"It's for your own good. They'll fix you up and all they ask in return is that you let them run some tests."

I wasn't even listening. I had to get free, I had to find the rest of the Flock and tell them about Max. Unless...unless they already knew.

Max sighed. Then she reached over the bed and pressed a button on one of the machines there. I was instantly drowsy.

"Goodbye Fang." And then everything was black.

* * *

**Me: I liked that one better then the last chapter.**

**Iggy: Ya. Hey, is someone singing the Transformer's theme song?**

**Me: Ya, that's Jacob.**

**Iggy: What's he look like?**

**Me: Dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin.**

**Iggy: Hm...sounds like Fang.**

**Me: Ya, except he's four and asian.**

**Iggy: Oh...okay.**

**RnR?  
**


	10. Ambulance Ride and Symmetrical Eyebrows

**Iggy: Wow. Rain?**

**Me: -sigh- yes.**

**Iggy: And hail.**

**Me: Yes. With some cats and dogs thrown in  
**

**Iggy: At least now you can get another chapter done! :D**

**Me: Don't be perky, it bugs me.**

**The do's and don't's of Disclaimers: I don't own Maximum Ride. I do own this tent in the middle of a frickin' storm.

* * *

**

**Nudge POV**

_Oh my, God. Oh my, God. Oh my, God. OH MY, GOD!_

That's all I could think as I road shot gun in the ambulance. It was taking everything in me to not ask my million questions. _Is Fang okay? How long till we get to the hospital? Are these really EMT's or are they whitecoats? Erasers?_

_Is Fang going to die?_

**Fang is hurt real bad. We're about two minutes from the hospital. They're not whitecoats. Not Erasers either. **Angel sent to me. Even in my head she sounded so young and scared. Fang was like her big brother, maybe even a dad. If something happened to him...

Then I realized that she hadn't answered my last question. _Angel, he isn't..._? I didn't know how to finish that thought.

**I don't know.**I looked back at her and saw that she had tears in her eyes. She met my gaze and smiled weakly.

The moment was interrupted by one of the EMT's saying, "Uh-oh — he's fibrillating." A machine to one side of the cab was making erratic beeping noises.

"No!" Max shouted. We all looked at her. The hand that wasn't holding Fang's was held up to keep the paramedic with the paddles back.

"That's _always _how his heart is," she explained slowly as if to a six year old. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Angel send me a mini glare. "That's _normal _for him," she added.

I didn't get to see if they believed her because at that moment we pulled into a crowded parking lot. A bunch of people came running out of the building in front of us, a gurney being pushed between them.

I didn't even wait for the ambulance to stop before I was out the passenger side door. I landed easily on my feet after jumping out and ran to the back.

Even more nurses and doctors came streaming out of the building. All of them were wearing white lab coats. It was really hard to ignore the instinct to start attacking them. _They're here to help Fang, _I reminded myself. _You hurt them and Fang gets hurt._

As one of the paramedics started rattling off a bunch of nonsense numbers and words to a nurse, Fang was loaded onto the gurney. Before anyone could stop them, three of the nurses had wheeled him through the front door of the hospital.

Max tried to follow them but some lady wearing bright yellow scrubs stopped her. "Let the doctors see him first," she said. "You can give me some information. Now, what's his name? Is he your boyfriend?"

She was looking down at a chart and didn't notice Max's slight look of disgust. I was too worried to giggle though. instead I just watched Max expectantly. She could lie herself out of any situation.

"His name is... Nick," she said. "Nick, um, Ride. He's my brother."

The nurse looked at Max, who looked nothing like Fang. Maybe their noses. And they both had nice even eyebrows... I shook my head so I could concentrate on the matter at hand. I could rant about Max's eyebrow symmetry later.

"He's all our brother's," I said before Max could dismiss us as just friends.

The nurse seemed to believe this even less. For one, I was Black. Fang looked almost Mexican, or maybe Hawaiian. Second: Iggy, Gazzy, and Angel were pale, blonde, and had blue eyes. That was the _opposite_ of Fang's dark features.

"We were adopted," Max lied smoothly. "Our parents are...missionaries," bless her brilliance... "They're away on a...short mission. I'm in charge."

Some guy in all green (soooo not his color) hurried over to where we were standing. "Miss?" he asked Max, only glancing at the rest of us. "Could you come with me, right now?" There was a note of urgency in his voice.

"Think they noticed the wings yet?" Iggy whispered to me.

Before Max left she tapped the back of Iggy's hand twice. He nodded in understanding to the unspoken message. My guess was either "your in charge" or "don't blow anything up". Or maybe a mix of the two.

With one last glance at the Flock, Max walked off; a look of total doom on her face.

* * *

**Iggy: That was good...**

**Me: But...?**

**Iggy: I've only had, like, two lines the entire story.**

**Me: Don't worry, I'm doing your point of view next chapter.**

**Iggy: Squee!**

**Review, or Iggy may never squee again...  
**


	11. Iggy Speaks

**Iggy: Can I write this one??**

**Me: Sure. -hands over pen and notebook-**

**Iggy: Okay, so...-realizes he can't see paper nor can he spell- Nevermind.**

**Me: Thought so. You can do the Disclaimer though!**

**Iggy: -mutters grumpily- She doesn't own Maximum Ride.**

**Me: Well that was anti climatic.

* * *

**

**Iggy POV**

After Max left, another nurse led us into what I assumed was the hospital.

Nudge was holding my hand **(A/N:Iggy: May the record show that this is _NOT_ Niggy) **and Angel was describing the room we were in. Where the windows were, how many people, what there was for me to trip over, ect. I told Gazzy to look out for anything suspicious.

I was just trying to remember the turns we were taking incase we had to get out of here. We entered into a large waiting room, then went to the left down a long hallway. We went about through a door on our right about twenty feet down the hall. From there we went through another door directly across the room from the first.

By the time the nurse excused herself from the room, I was about to jump out of my skin. The smell was bad enough; all anticeptic and cleaning supplies. We might as well be back in the school. And I couldn't see a thing (duh.) and ya, i'm good at getting around, but it was hard in places like this. Big, new, and full of people.

"It's okay Iggy," Angel whispered, squeezing my hand. Great, the six year old had to comfort the 14 year old.

_Take it or leave it, _she thought to me. I chuckled softly.

For the next few minutes Nudge described the layout of the room and hallway outside the door. I figured that we had at least three solid escape routes.

Angel was sitting in a corner with Total. I could hear her whispering softly to him.

Gazzy was off making a bomb. What? It helps relieve stress.

Pretty soon Nudge started talking about the thing on all our minds.

Fang.

"Do you think he's alright? I hope he is. Max has been gone awhile. Where is she?" Most of this was said in one breathe.

"And why is she the only one who gets to see him?"

"Nudge?" I asked, I couldn't take her insessive **(spelling?)** talking right now.

"I mean ya, she's leader and, like, his best friend. But what if we didn't get a chance to say goodbye and he—"

"NUDGE!" I shouted. She whipped her head around and gave me a confused look.

"What?" she asked.

"Three things. Fang will be fine, Max will be back soon, don't even _think _about Fang dieing, and SHUT UP," I didn't want her upsetting Angel, she was strong but she was still young.

"That was four," she muttered.

"Nudge," I said in a warning tone.

"Sorry," she mumbled. I sighed, already feeling bad for scolding her. She was just worried. That made two of us.

I mean Fang was like a brother to me. I loved that guy **(A/N: Iggy: May the record show that this is _NOT _Figgy!)**, it would kill all of us if he was gone.

I heard the Gasman coming over to where me and Nudge were sitting. I looked up in his general direction.

"Hey Ig, i need help with the detonator," he said. He pressed something small and metal into my hand. I trailed my fingers across the exposed wiring, looking for something out of place.

I know it may sound weird but making bombs is really calming. I could feel tension leaving my shoulders as I got consumed in the familiarity of moving the wires around. I switched two of the wires and moved a metal piece around until it made a slight _click._

I handed it back to Gazzy, feeling a lot better now that I was back in familiar territory.

A minute of silence later a door opened. I tensed until I recognized the foot falls as those of the nurse who brought us here.

"I'm sorry it took me so long," she said from the Gasman came to stand by my side and I heard Angel stand up and stand behind Nudges chair. There were tiny foot pads that ended under my chair. Total.

"How's... Nick, doing?" I asked, remembering Fang's 'name'.

"He's stable for now. he's healing abnormally fast..." she trailed off as I heard papers rustling from her direction.

"And our sister? She's been gone awhile," I commented.

"Nick lost a lot of blood. So she's giving a blood transfusion as we speak." she answered.

I thought for a second, did Fang lose enough blood to need a transfusion? Yes. Would Max take a needle for him? Double Yes.

"Okay..." I said, hesitant to put any amount of trust in these 'good' whitecoats.

I heard her turn to leave but then she stopped when she was at the door.

"Oh, and there are some people here to see you," she added before closing the door behind her.

Great.

* * *

**Iggy: Eh, close enough.**

**Me: I thought it was accurate.**

**Iggy: How would you know?**

**Me: -rips off mask to reveal Angel- Muahahaha! -disapears-**

**(Real) Me: -enters room- Hey, what I miss?**

**Iggy: O.o**

**Review?  
**


	12. I Don't Care

**Me: Okay, thanks to the friendly neighborhood squirrels and chipmunks, my notebook has not only lost about ten pages but also lost it's cover. How did this happen? Well I went for a hike and came back to find that my notebook had been attacked. I guess there must have been marshmallow on it or something...**

**Iggy: I wish I could've seen your face...**

**Me: Whatever. Luckily the chapters I haven't posted yet are still (sorta) in tacked. **

**Disclaimer (with a rant about squirrels!): Unlike that unruly squirrel, I do not claim things that are not mine. That includes Maximum Ride.

* * *

**

**Ari POV**

"What do you mean I can't!?" I shouted in my father's face. It had been our agreement that when we found Max I could kill her. End of story. Period. Now he tells me that some 'Director' person has taken a personal interest in the Flock, so I can't kill her.

"The Director wishes to observe them herself," Dad said in a slightly annoyed voice. "And she can't do that if they're dead."

"I don't care!" I shouted. This isn't fair! He had promised me! And now he was going back on him promises. _Again._

_"_It doesn't matter what you think, Ari. The Director is my boss, and I am _your_ boss. What she says goes."

That sent me over the edge. I gave out a frustrated roar and my arms and face exploded with hair. My wings uncomfortably shifting around as my back hunched and my shoulders blades moved around. My nose and mouth elongated and I felt my teeth become long and sharp. Within seconds I had full out morphed.

Dad sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Ari," he said tiredly. "I don't have time for this. If you want something to do then go help Specimen 23 with her training.

That got my attention. Hmmm...that could work. Specimen 23 was a big part of the new plan. If I could get her on my side then things could work to my advantage.

I growled and slowly morphed back, the uncomfortable transition from to hair never felt 100%. I was always a little morphed and or a little human. And with the giant wings basically duct taped to my back, I was always in some sort of pain.

"Fine," I huffed. He simply nodded and left the room.

I went down the hall from where we were and into a large white room. There was a girl standing in the middle of the room, she had long dirty blonde hair and was wearing a white t shirt with white basket ball shorts. She didn't look up when I walked in.

"Ari," said a whitecoat. He looked at me with an annoyance. There seemed to be a lot of that happening today. "what are you doing here?"

"Dad said I could help with her training," I said nodding to the girl who was looking intently down at her white sneakers.

He scoffed, "You can barely handle the original, much less the clone."

I shrugged and said, "So is that a yes?"

He sighed but backed off. "Ya, whatever," he muttered as he went to one side of the room and put his pen to his chart, waiting expectantly.

I went to stand a good ten feet away from the girl. She got into a fighting stance, her chocolate brown eyes staying impassive and blank. "Bring it dog boy," she snarled. So they were teaching her to be sarcastic? That would be important if she was to complete her mission.

"As you wish," I growled back, "_Max._"

* * *

**Iggy: What happened to Fang's POV?  
**

**Me: Fang's borring when he's unconscious. Plus this was more fun. Short. But fun.**

**Review?  
**


	13. Guy, Dude, and Lady

**Me: Hey people! Okay, so I already posted all the chapters I already had written and sinse school started today, then I won't be able to update as often. Hopefully once a day though. And I want to say th**—

**Iggy: THANK YOU TO THE SUPER DUPER AMAZING BABIIXILYX3 FOR ALL YOUR SQUEE INDUCING REVIEWS!!!**

**Me: Hey! I was supposed to say that!**

**Iggy: It means more coming from me.**

**Me: -glares-**

**Disclaimer (I'm sorry if the Bible reference is offensive or something, it's the only thing I could think of...): And James Patterson said, let there be Maximum Ride...And I am not him.

* * *

**

**T****he Gasman POV**

The Flock and I were sitting silently around a big conference table with three suits standing off to the side. Two of them were tough looking guys and a not-so-friendly lady.

And yet, _Angel_ could take them.

They hadn't said anything to us except that they were with the government. Like, FBI or something. After that they said that they wanted to wait for our 'sister' to be here before they started the questioning. Ya, right. Like we would answer their questions.

At that moment the door opened and in walked a pale Max. She had a piece of gauze taped to her inside of her elbow. I held back a shuddered, I _hated _needles.

We looked up at her and I saw the others relax, even Iggy. Though I have no idea how he knew it was her.

It looked like she was about to say something but one of the guys spoke up.

"You must be Max," he said. Max tensed and turned to take in the sight of the agents. The guy who had spoken had a buzz cut and a gray suit. I could barely make out the ear piece that snaked down into the collar of his shirt.

"Please sit down," said the lady.

Max looked at us with a questioning looked. Angel shook her head the slightest bit, probably signaling that they weren't Erasers or something.

Max stood beside where Nudge was sitting and glanced at the trays of food in front of us. They had given them to us but we barely even looked at them. They were probably poisoned or something.

"Who are you?" Max asked in a calm voice. How she could do that when we hadn't slept in days, one of us was practically on his death bed, and she had donated way too much blood to be healthy, I will never know.

"We're from the Federal Bureau of Investigation," the second guy said, handing Max a small card. "And we're on your side," Ya right. "We just became aware that you were having some trouble here," Oh sure, they'd probably been watching us for months, "and we came to see if we could help." Oh, well then we should just— God, I've been hanging out with max too much. I was becoming _way _too paranoid.

"Oh how nice of you!" she said with fake appreciation. "But aren't most people in a hospital, uh, _having some trouble?_ I doubt the FBI comes calling on _them._ So what do you want with us?"

They all looked at each other before the first guy (I'll call him Guy and the other one Dude. The girl would be Lady) smiled and said, "We know you've been in a lot of trouble, Max. And we're sorry... Nick got hurt. You're in a bad spot and we can help."

Max looked really beat and the smell from the food was getting hard to ignore. I was _so_ hungry.

"Angel," Max said, not looking away from the terrible trio, :give Total some of your food and see if he keels over. If he doesn't you can all go ahead and eat."

Total hopped into a chair and looked expectantly at Angel. Okay, that's not weird at _all..._

"Look," said Lady. she took a bite of Angel's eggs. Guy and Dude followed suit and ate a little something from the three remaining platters, then the one that someone had just brought in for Max.

They didn't suddenly fall to the ground and start choking. A good sign. First one today.

"Okay, dig in, guys," Max said. I started by stuffing a whole muffin in my mouth and swallowing it whole. Mmm...yummy. Before I knew it, all the food on my tray was gone. I contemplated asking for more. I almost didn't ask. Almost.

"Can I have maybe two more trays?" I asked. Guy nodded and went to get my food.

"So," Max said between a mouthful of eyes and sausage, "how are you here to help us? How did you know we were here?"

"We'll answer all your questions," said Dude. I could see Max growing irritated and hoped this guy watched himself. he was no match for an angry Max. "But we need you to answer some questions too. We thought it might be easier if we went one-on-one—less distracting. If your done eating, we can move into here."

He opened a door and one th eother side was a big conference room. There were a bunch of people in suits walking around. Yay.

"You're not separating us," Max said stubbornly.

"No," said Lady, "just separate tables. All in the same room see?"

Max thought for a second. She knew none of us wanted to do this. But we couldn't leave without Fang. God, this sucks...

**It's okay Gazzy,** Angel to me. I smiled at her and she smiled back. We both looked back at Max and saw her sigh. she then pushed back her chair and stood up. She looked at the agents with defeat. Oh, well. Not like we had much choice. At least we would get to practice lying. I mean, it's not like we're gonna tell them the _truth._

_Bring it suits!

* * *

_**AHHHH! I am soooo sorry. I started writing this yesterday and then went to get ready for bed and forgot to post this! Well, here it is. I'll try and have one in Fang's POV up by the end of the day. Just gotta finish up my Spanish homework. Adios!**

**RnR?  
**


	14. AND NO ONE WAS STOPPING HER

**Okay, I finished my homework faster then I thought I would, so I'm gonna try and update before my Dad steals the internet (long story, don't ask). So, I think I'll get right to the story since I don't have a lot of time. And Iggy's taking a nap, so shhhh. :)**

**Dislcaimer: -whispered- I don't own Maximum Ride or the sleeping Iggy on my couch over there -points-**

**WARNING: May be sorta kinda little witty bit gory/gross.  
**

**

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**

**Fang POV**

Have you ever woken up in the middle of having surgery on a gaping side wound? Really? Just me?

Well it sucks. Really, and truly sucks.

I had been having this really weird dream where Iggy was singing the song that never ends in a clown suit and Max was cooking. AND NO ONE WAS STOPPING HER. Then Nudge was doing the Polka and Angel and Gazzy were no where to be seen. Total was sitting in the corner with one of those pair of glasses with the fake noses and mustaches. I felt like a mixture of drunk, high, and mentally insane.

Then I started to hear things. At first it was just gibberish, but then I started hearing a distinct beeping sound coming from my right. It was going at the same rate as my heart. Which, at the moment, was going abnormally slow and uneven.

Then I heard voices. I think there were three of them. Two sounded low and sorta gruff. Probably some guys. The other was quieter and more high pitched. A girl.

The next sense to come back was smell.

I nearly hurled.

The smell was so _strong. _It was like having your head shoved into an air tight chemical lab. The smells of antiseptic and disinfectant filled my nostrils. I tried to gag but ended up choking on something in my mouth. My eyes shot open to see three very surprised whitecoats.

And then I felt the pain.

I fell back and bit down on the tube to muffle my scream of pain. It felt like i was on fire. I opened my eyes to no more then slits, almost getting blinded by the lights above me. I looked down at my side and felt bile rise in my throat.

My side was cut completely open, a few of my ribs and one of my air sacs were visible. I started choking on the tube in my mouth and reached up to rip it out. My hand got caught about half way to my face and I looked to see an IV in my hand. It was attacked to a bag of what I assumed was blood that was hanging above my head.

"What the hell!?" one of the whitecoats shouted. They were all standing a few feet back and had looks of shock on their faces.

"Max _said_ it wouldn't be enough! I _told_ you to listen to her!" the nurse shouted. The heart monitor next to me was being erratic and loud.

Wait, _Max_? Max had been here. She'd talked to them.

No. Oh, no. I had a sudden flash back to the dream I'd had, the one where Max had sent me to the School. I was starting to feel light headed. My side was gushing blood, _way_ more then what was in the bag above my head.

"Hold him down," said the second whitecoat in a strong, confident voice. After a second of hesitation the two others rushed forward and kept my arms and legs down. I had barely enough energy to breathe, so I wasn't even a match for these weak humans.

The woman put a new IV in my hand. Then she put a needle filled with clear liquid into the inside of my elbow. I started feeling drowsy. But the pain was still there.

"Mmmmhmm ma...wha ma...," I mumbled through numb lips. My eye lids were starting to droop but I still heard the woman.

She said, "Max said, Bendeechay, Bareet, Naytara, Kelkayta."

I heard the words but was having a hard time focusing on them. I had heard them before, I knew what they meant. I just couldn't think of what that was.

Wait, Max. She said Max had said that. And Max... we had a code. And those word...they were part of the...Ugh, I was so sleepy. I could figure it out later.

No, these were whitecoats. I couldn't let them win.

Then I remembered. The fight with Ari. Max yelling at me on the beach. Me feeling sorry but being in too much pain. What the words meant.

_Don't freak out. They're helping. Don't be stupid. It's life or death._

Okay, so I wasn't at the school. These weren't whitecoats. And apparently I was being stupid. Well, I remembered what happened the last time I was being stupid. And that's why I was here.

I would have sighed if I wasn't so numb. So I sighed in my head. Eh, good enough. I didn't have much of a choice anyways. At least now I could sleep.

I just hoped I woke up.

* * *

**Me: DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUNNNNNNNN!!!**

**Iggy: -shoots upright- martian sitcoms!**

**Me: Oops. Sorry, didn't mean to wake you.  
**

**Iggy: -mumbles- stupid martians...why don't you bug Sam?...**

**Waview? (say it in a baby voice, sounds cute! ^-^)  
**


	15. Plauges Of Song

**Okay, I had to delete the last chapter and then reload it because I forgot the Disclaimer and couldn't edit it unless I deleted it. So...sorry if that did anything? I don't know if it did since the chapter was off of the website for... 37.2 seconds. Still, I couldn't believe it. _I_ forgot the Disclaimer. ME! The _queen_ of Disclaimers!**

**Also, I want to say thank you to all my lovely reviewers. You all rock! I'll have a little me update at the bottom. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Iggy: -clears throat dramatically-  
**

**Me: Oh, ya! I almost did it again!**

**Disclaimer (sung to the tune of 'If Your Happy And You Know It'): If you own Maximum Ride and you know it, clap your hands! -James Patterson claps hands- If you don't own Max Ride and you know it, clap your hands! -claps hands- **

**WARNING: This chapter is a... a... IT'S A MUSICAL!! Fang's on Valium and he's gone LOOPY!**

**

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Fang POV**

I was humming. Ya, I was _that_ bored. There wasn't much to do when your unconscious. It was a weird sort of unconscious though, I could still think fine. Well maybe not _fine._ I broke into song every now and then but aside from that I could think straight. Well...

Okay, I was loopy as a dodo bird and trying to make myself feel better. I would try focusing on one thought but my mind would float away and go to something else. Like I tried to think about how long I'd been sleeping but would end up reliving a memory from four years ago. God, what kind of stuff did they have me on?

I remembered something I saw on TV once about this guy who stole Valium from his doctor and would give himself small doses. He would go completely loopy and ended up over dosing. **(I made all of that up, so don't quote me) **But that got me thinking, if the Docs gave me Valium, would it make me crazy? I had no idea how it would effect a bird kid's system. I'd have to Google it later...

_Sigh._ I'm so sick of this not-being-able-to-do-anything...ness.

_I'm so sick and tired of being, sick and tired_

Oh, no.

_They left me all alone,  
But I'm so sick and tired of being, sick and tired_

Not again.

_Somebody turn the lights on!  
Somebody tell me what's wrong!  
I'd be lying if I told you_—

Yes! I made it stop! That'd been happening lately. I blame Nudge. She's always singing and making us listen to the lamest songs.

I just had to keep my mind blank. Then, I can't think of anything that could lead to song lyrics. Okay, just think of nothing. Think...of nothing...

...

...

...

_Max._

Okay, well, that was random. At least it's not a song.

_Think about Maaaaaax._

What the hell? Then I realized that it wasn't my voice saying it. Now, unless I've gone insane like Max (quite possible really) and have a Voice in my head, then there was only one other person it could be.

_Angel?_

**Noooo, **she said. **I am your subconscious.... Now, think about Maaaaax.**

_Angel, as you can see, I'm losing it. And your not helping._

**Sorry, Iggy just wanted me to see if I could reach you.**

_Okay,_ I thought back. _Why?_

**Hang on, **there was a pause and then, **He wants me to tell you that there a FBI agents here questioning us. They know about the wings and know Max's name, but we've lied to them about everything. Oh! And you're Nick.**

_I'm what?_ I was starting to think that maybe I really _was_ talking to myself. I mean, come on. FBI?

**It's true! And Nick is your name. So if anyone asks, I'm Ariel, Nudge is Krystal, Gazzy is...uh _Captain Terror,_ and Iggy is Jeff. And your Nick! Nick. Nick, Nick, Nick. I like that name. It reminds me of Nick Jonas. From the Jonas Brothers. Don't you love that song they sing? Burning up?**

I froze. Well I couldn't actually freeze, but I stopped thinking. I waited, it should be any second now...

_I'm hot, you're cold  
You go around like you know__  
Who I am, but you don't  
You've got me on my toes_

_Great, thanks Angel._ I thought bitterly.

**Muahaha,** and then she was gone. Great, now I'm stuck in my head with the Jonas Brothers.

_I'm slippin' into the lava  
And I'm tryin' keep from goin' under  
Baby, who turned the temperature hotter?  
'Cause I'm burnin' up, burnin' up for you baby  
C'mon girl_

_ANGEL! _I thought desperately. I got a slight giggle in response. _Why did you want me to think about Max earlier?_

Okay, I hated the whole wandering mind thing, it made it impossible to concentrate.

_All the girls steppin' out for a public affair_

That's not fair. That doesn't even have anything to do with what I'm thinking!

_We can dance if we want to,  
We can leave your friends behind,  
'Cause your friends don't dance,  
And if they don't dance,  
Well they ain't no friends of mine_

**Because if you think about her all the time, then that means you love her, **came her response, a little late if you ask me.

_Hm..._ I thought back, not really listening. I would regret that later. _That's nice..._

**You can't runaway from love Fang.**

I wasn't feeling as cookoo has I had been. It was becoming easier to focus. But I was too late. She'd said it. And since she said it, I thought it. So of coarse, my brain broke into song.

_From London to Paris  
From Berlin to Rome  
You're searching for something  
A place to call home_

Been hiding your feelings  
Went out of control  
Your destinations unknown

Tell me  
How can it be boy?  
You're still a runaway  
You chase the dreams from heaven above  
Where in this world will you find a place to stay?  
Runaway from love

How can it be boy?  
You're still a runaway  
You chase the dreams from heaven above, baby  
Where in this world will you find a place to stay?  
Runaway from love  
Runaway from love (runaway)

A new town, a new place  
A knock on the door  
You came as a stranger and entered the door  
The moment I saw you, I knew it for sure  
You won't pack your bags anymore

Tell me  
How can it be boy?  
You're still a runaway  
You chase the dreams from heaven above  
Where in this world will you find a place to stay?  
Runaway from love

How can it be boy?  
You're still a runaway  
You chase the dreams from heaven above, baby  
Where in this world will you find a place to stay?  
Runaway from love  
Runaway from love (runaway)

I know you don't want to be a bother  
Though your love's so undiscovered  
I want you to stay boy  
Stop running away from love

How can it be boy?  
You're still a runaway  
You chase the dreams from heaven above  
Where in this world will you find a place to stay?  
Runaway from love

How can it be boy?  
You're still a runaway  
You chase the dreams from heaven above, baby  
Where in this world will you find a place to stay?  
Runaway from love  
Runaway from love

I am not running away. I don't run away. Okay, that was a total lie. I was running and that's what got me in this hell. But I was running from imminent death. I wasn't running from something stupid.

I hate Angel. When I wake up (_if _I wake up) I would have a talk to her about inducing sudden plaques of song in my head.

And then, I would have Max yell at her. I don't know why, but Angel always listens to Max.

And then I would have Iggy blow up Nudge's Ipod.

That way, _all_ my problems were taken care of.

Well, everything but that annoying little voice in the back of my head saying Angel was right. A voice, that _wasn't _Angel.

But I would have to deal with that later. Because I was waking up.

* * *

**It was a filler chapter so I thought I might as well have fun with it.**

** Okay, and now time for a me update. It's the weekend so I'll _defiantly_ be able to update at least once a day. Also, I own none of the above mentioned songs which were: a random song on my Ipod that's name I don't know, Burning up by the Jonas Brothers (suck), another random song, Safety Dance by Men Without Hats (my favorite inside joke EVER!), and Runaway by Cascada.**

**Well, that's it. WAIT! ALSO! Iggy II is not answering my calls and I have put up missing person posters around my neighborhood and mailed some to Jamaica, the place he was last seen. I suspect Max II, but it's not official.**

**Iggy: Aren't I enough?**

**Me: You want to stay!?**

**Iggy: I never sa**—

**Me: Oh Iggy! I love you too! -huggles Iggy-**

**Iggy: Help...me...  
**


	16. Doctors Don't Love Anne

**Okay, I'm doing this a little late in the day 'cause we were celebrating my parents anniversary a day late. 16 years and my mom can _still_ tolerate my dad! **

**Well, me and Ig are off to look into a lead we got about where Iggy II may be. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Iggy: And while she's packing her portable stalker kit -gets hit with shoe- I mean knapsack, I'll be doing the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer (while listening to Cirrus): Girl don't try to claim I-I know just-just what you are-are-are. You, you don't own Max. You, you aren't James Pat. You**—

**Me: -enters room and stops dead at Iggy's singing- What the hell?**

**Iggy: Umm...Invisible Line! Activate!

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**

**Fang POV**

When I was awake I didn't open my eyes. Instead I just lay there perfectly still and listened to my surroundings.

"You have to leave now ma'am, but I'll let you know when he wakes up," said a voice. It sounded like one of the doctors I had seen when I woke up during surgery.

"Well, okay..." said a second voice, they sounded hesitant.

By the time my brain realized who it was I heard a door shut. Crap. Max had been _right _there. Now she was going to go back to the Flock and tell them that I looked like hell. Then Angel would cry, Gazzy would blow something up to release some of his emotions, Nudge would talk about how when I die she has dibs on my my clothes so she can die them and make a dress or something, and Iggy won't be paying attention because he's flirting with a nurse.

And Max... well, she'll probably comfort Angel. Then take away Gazzy's bomb. Then she'd tell Nudge that I'm not gonna die and even if I did unless she wants me buried naked (this was my only outfit) then there wasn't gonna be a dress. And then she would pull Iggy away from the nurse by the ear and tell him to entertain the younger kids while she went off and worried like the mother hen she was.

Wow, I think some of the blood the Docs gave me was Nudge's, 'cause I've never been that talkative, even in my head.

I sighed and opened my eyes. The doctor was leaning over me, fiddling with an IV attached to my left hand.

"Boo," I said and almost laughed when the guy jumped and looked at me with a shocked face.

"My God, you scared me," he said, clutching his chest over his heart.

"So sorry," I said in a voice that I usually used when I wanted to make Max mad.

He eyed me wearily and then pressed a button on the wall above the hospital bed I was in. I tensed, expecting Erasers to come streaming in through the door. But a few moments later the only thing that came into the room was a petite nurse with mousy brown hair.

"Yes Dr. Falk?" she said in a high pitched voice that should be on a kid's show.

"Tell the...others, that he's awake," he nodded at me. "And get Dr. Reed."

"Yes sir," the girl said and left the room. Me and the Doc stayed there in silence until the door opened a few minutes later.

"Dr. Falk, Nicholas," said the woman who entered the room, she nodded at each of us. Nicholas? Oh, right. I wasn't Fang to these people, I was _Nick_.

"Dr. Reed, do you have the test results?" Dr Falk asked the woman. She had pale skin and light blond hair that was hanging in thick waves down to her shoulders. She had dark blue eyes and was pretty short; only about 5' 5".

"Yes, here," she handed Falk a thick folder filled with multicolored papers. He opened the folder and I saw a bunch of gibberish written on the sheets. They seemed to mean something to the doctor because he nodded and closed the folder.

I took the momentary silence to speak. "Where's my family?" I asked.

**We're five rooms down from you. Except for Max, she's out in the hallway, **Angel put in helpfully.

The woman answered, "You can see them later. You need to rest up first, as soon as your out of recovery we'll bring them in,"

I was about to protest and say I'd see them weather they said I could or not, but there was an impatient knock on the door.

Dr. Reed checked her watch and shook her head. "Five minutes on the dot," she muttered. She nodded to both of us in good-bye and then went to the door. She opened it just enough for her to slip out— which wasn't a lot —, but it was still enough for me to see Max on the other side. She met my gaze for only a second before the door closed.

But it was enough. I had seen the worry and then the sudden relief in her eyes. I had really scared her...

"Your sister's not happy with the arrangements," Falk said as he flipped through the pages in the file again.

"Hm?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"She wanted it so they could all be in here with you," by 'they' I assumed he meant the Flock. "When we said no she nearly threw our head resident through a wall," he chuckled slightly at the memory.

"That sounds like Max," I said to no one in particular. There was a moment of comfortable silence before the door opened again. A woman with blond hair in a neat bun walked in. I saw irritation flash across Falk's face but it left as quickly as it came.

"Hello Ni—" she was cut off by Dr. Falk.

"Leave," the doctor said curtly. "Authorized personnel only."

The woman glared at the man and opened her mouth to speak again but the door opened behind her. I was starting to get pissed at the whole _we_-can-come-and-go-as-we-please-but-_you_-have-to-stay-where-you-are thing.

It was Dr. Reed again. She didn't look too happy to see the other woman there. "How many times do I have to tell you," she said in an angry voice. "You can question him _after_ recovery and _after_ he gets a chance to talk to his family. Until then you can go back to the Bureau."

Bureau? Oh crap, this gal was with the FBI. What fresh hell had I gotten us into?

"For your information—" she was cut off by me this time.

"Look, I may be confined to this bed, but Max isn't," I hated using Max as my body guard, but all their arguing was giving me a headache. "And I'm sure she'd be happy to show you the way out."

"I—" she stopped herself this time. And then smiled, her eyes lighting up and I instantly regretted mentioning Max. Now she was gonna go bug her and the Flock. "As you wish. I'll talk with you later." Then she just left.

Dr. Reed grumbled something and then looked back at me. "One of our other doctors is telling your family you're okay as we speak. Only a few people know about the situation. Everyone else at the hospital thinks this room is being kept in quarantine. We originally estimated your time of recovery to be a few hours, but with your excellerated healing rate, you should be fine for visitors in another half hour to forty minutes."

I let this information sink in before asking, "And that woman?"

"She's with the FBI. They caught wind of what was going on and have been pestering us ever since. Your sister seems to have gotten them to back of though. Everyone except that woman that is. She insists on interviewing you herself."

"No thanks," I mumbled sleepily. Waking up in the middle of a painful surgery and then being stuck in the middle of an internal musical can really take it out of you.

"We'll let you rest," the woman said with a kind smile. Dr. Falk nodded and the two left the room. I looked at the clock to my right. One minute down, thirty-nine to go. Might as well get in a litter cat — er, bird — nap.

I looked around the room one last time. Then I drifted into the first peaceful sleep I'd had in a long, long time.

* * *

**It was just another filler, not as fun as the last one, a little OOC in the beginning, and really lame. But, eh, it needed to happen for the story to move along. Next chapter will be better. Promise.**

**Iggy: In other news, we're in the middle of frickin' nowhere with a crazy woman who's hair looks like a mix between a birds nest and a bike helmet. **

**Me: We're in eastern Washington with my 7th grade Language Arts teacher. She's the one who sent us the tip.  
**

**Iggy: Same smell. And Iggy II is no where to be seen. Can we go home now?**

**Me: -sigh- Fine. Til next time, bye!**

**Flame? That's right, I want a flame. I want you to tell me how much this chapter sucked. Go ahead, whoever has the best flame gets mentioned in the next chapter!  
**


	17. Her Name Is Max

**I swear, you people make no sense sometimes. I thought that last chapter would get no replys, but there I was; checking my email to find a bunch of 'that was awesome's and even a few hostage notes. Which by the way, not to name names -cough- babiixilyx3 -cough- but you have been reported to the authorities.**

**Iggy: Did you ever stop to think that maybe he just doesn't want to answer your phone calls?**

**Me: ARE YOU SAYING THAT HE DOESN'T LIKE ME!?!?!? -eye twitch- **

**Iggy: Uh...no?**

**Me: Oh. Okay. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I am to Maximum Ride as Cascada is to most of her songs. I didn't write it, I'm just redoing it. :)**

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**

**Fang POV**

Have you ever been in the middle of a good dream just to have someone wake you up in a really obnoxious, annoying way? Well, I have. A lot. And it's always the same person too.

Her name is Max.

I was dreaming that there was no such thing as the School or Erasers and that the Flock and I had just been born with our wings. No one cared or tried to hunt us down. Instead we all just lived on a nice secluded beach with our parents who loved us.

And then I heard the _Bam!_

My eyes shot open just to close tight again due to the bright lights that had just been turned on in the room. "MORNING SUNSHINE!" said the spawn of Satan herself.

I opened my left eye the tiniest bit to see Max standing in the door way, a big smile on her face.

"Go away," I said, closing my eyes again. "I'm sleeping."

"Not for long," said a mischievous voice from nearby. I opened my eyes again and glared at Iggy who had a bowl of chili on a tray that I assumed came from the cafeteria.

"What?" I asked. "You gonna poor it on my head?"

"Oh, no. I would never risk ruining that lovely hair of yours," _Lovely hair?_

"Then what?" I asked wearily.

"This isn't for you," he then scooped up the bowl in one hand and extended it to the Gasman who was waiting nearby.

"Okay. I'm up, I'm up," I said quickly. Iggy cackled— yes, _cackled_ —and took the bowl away from Gazzy, who in turned looked very dissapointed.

"So where are you guys staying tonight?" I asked Max.

"Well, we couldn't leave you all alone in this awful place, now could we?" she said as she went over and opened up a mini fridge. Ya, this place was terrible. "So we're bunking with you," she added.

I raised an eyebrow at her and then looked pointedly to the one other bed in the room. It was barely enough for one patient, much less five overgrown mutant bird kids.

She looked at the bed. "Huh," she said. "that _is _a problem, now isn't it."

"The girls can have the bed. Iggy and I can sleep on the floor," Gazzy said. Iggy, who had been standing beside me, shook his head and had a sad look on his face.

"He was such a nice kid...," he trailed off, sounding wistful.

"Relax," I whispered back. "He's still in the 'sexist pig' stage of Maximum Punishment." That's what we called it when Max got mad.

As if on cue she raised her eyebrows and said, "Excuse me, sexist piglet? How about the two smallest people share the bed 'cause they'll _fit._ That would be you and Angel."

"Ya," Nudge put in. "Like, I'm too much of a creme puff to sleep on the floor?"

Gazzy tried to look stubborn but Max just walked over to the other side of my bed.

"Huh, you were right," Iggy muttered and then walked expertly to a chair in the corner.

"Of coarse," Max said, "the prince gets his own bed all to himself."

I would have laughed if I hadn't been so sleepy. And, you know, _me. _"That's right," I replied hazily. "The prince has a gaping side wound."

My side wasn't bugging me that much since I was so strung out on painkillers. I could only imagine what I must have looked like though.

"Well, they sewed you up," she said jokingly. "Your pretty much gape-free at this point."

"When do I get out of here?" I asked.

"They say a week."

"So, like, tomorrow?" I estimated.

"That's what I'm thinking."

"So, Fnick, can I change the channel?" Iggy piped up from where he was sitting, remote in hand. "There's a game on."

Jeez, these people need to pick a name for me and stick with it. "Make yourself at home, _Figgy_," I replied.

**(A/N: This is a rant. You may want to skip it. Muahaha! There! Proof! They all said there was no proof of Figgy but there it is! Right. There! Fang said it himself! Take _that_ you fricking haters! Iggy: Do I get no say in this rant? Me: Not unless you want to support the cause. Iggy: -_-)**

After everyone else had settled down, Max told me about the whole FBI thing.

"There's a lady named Anne who wants us to stay with her. It'd be a nice change and it's just until you get better," Max finished. She sounded like she was trying to convincer herself then me.

"I don't like it," I said. We were whispering so we didn't wake the Flock.

"Neither do I. But," she looked over the sleeping forms of the younger kids and sighed. "But I think they could use the vacation."

I watched her for a second. She really did care about these kids. It wasn't just her job as leader and oldest, but she _wanted _to take care of them. She was practically Angel's mom.

"You should sleep," I said.

"So should you," she said and then stifled a yawn. She snuck a glance at me to see if I'd noticed and I smirked in reply.

She sighed and went over to her bed-yoga-mat-thing. She lay down but her back was still tense and her breathing was too patterned for her too be sleeping. I decided to wait until she was asleep to get some rest. I needed to make sure the _whole_ Flock was okay before I could.

Or not. Because after only two minutes of watching Max toss and turn my heavy eyelids slid down and I was out like that.

My mind wondered to what we would do at Anne's house (if that was her real name) and what we'd have to do there. She'd probably think she was our mom and try bossing us around. Well she'll have another thing coming. There's only enough room for one over protective alpha dog in this world.

And her name is Max.

Strange, Max seems to be a lot of things today...

I was pulled out of sleep by the sound of a stifled scream. My eyes shot open and I scanned the group of sleeping kids.

Max wasn't with them.

* * *

**Me: Yay! Better-ness! Maybe I should do what I did last time and say I _don't _want reviews. You know, reverse psychology.**

**Iggy: I want to stay here forever!**

**Me: -gasp- SQUEE! -huggles Iggy-**

**Iggy: -gasping for air- What...happened...to...reverse...psychology?**

**Me: I'm crazy, silly! Those normal people tricks don't work on me!**

**Iggy: Uh-oh.**

**_And now a letter to the suspected bird-nappers of Iggy II (babiixilyx3 and Max II):_**

**_This is an (un)official FBI message saying—_**

**_Me: GIVE ME BACK IGGY II OR DIE!!!!_**

**_—you are being considered an official suspect in the investigation for missing person: Iggy II. He went missing _****_September 11th 2009_****_. We have proof of babiixilyx3 admitting to the kidnapping and Max II was the last person seen with him. If you do not provide us with an alibi for the above mentioned date you will_**—

**_Me: DIE!!!_**

—**_be taken in on kidnapping charges and_**—

**_Me: KILLED!!!_**

—**_be our number one suspect. We are willing to make a deal where you free Iggy II and turn yourself in and are_**—

**_Me: BRUTALLY MURDERED WITH NOTHING MORE THEN DENTAL FLOSS AND A SHARPIE!!!_**

—**_charged with kidnapping and you face_**—

**_Me: MY WRATH!!!_**

—**_a maximum_**—

**_Me: RIDE!!_**

—**_of 3 years in prison. We suggest that you reply to this message as soon as it is received. _**

**_Sincerely,_**

**_The Fake Bureau of Investigation_**

**_Me: And me! :D Er, I'm mean, :D _**


	18. What's With Max?

**I love you guys. I really do. I know a lot of people say that, but seriously, if I met you people on the street one day, I would propose to you all.**

**Iggy: Even though that would polygamy and that is illegal.**

**Me: Don't ruin this moment! Anywho, the reason I am saying this is because we (yes _we, _I hold you people responsible for this too) have broken the 50 review mark. If reviews stay at this rate then I should have 100 reviews by chapter... 34.**

**Iggy: But according to Ms. Dvorak it is unlikely for an outcome to happen as projected in situations like this because there could always be _more_ then 100 reviews by chapter 34 or people could lose interest and**—

**Me: Iggy! Shut up! God, you pay more attention in class then I do.**

**Iggy: Which isn't that hard.**

**Me: -_-**

**Disclaimer!(When a single word sentence ends with an ! you know something annoying and preppy is gonna happen!): Give me an I! _I! _Give me a D! _D!_ Give me an O! _O!_ Give me an N-T-O-W-N-M-A-X-I-M-U-M-R-I-D-E! _N-T-O-W-N-M-A-X-I-M-U-M-R-I-D-E!_ What do ya get!? _I DON'T OWN MAXIMUM RIDE! _WOO!

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**

**Fang POV**

I sat up soundlessly and looked around the room again, just in case she had moved her mat. But no, there it was, the blankets thrown to the side as if they had been torn off in a hurry. Crap. Where was she.

I opened my mouth to call her name when I heard a gasp from my left. I whipped my head around to see the light in the little bathroom on. The door was opened about a foot so I could _just_ see the edge of the mirror on the wall.

I saw Max standing there, her face pail and her hair frizzy. She had beads of sweat gathering on her forehead. What was going on?

From the angle I was at, I could only see about half her face. But I was able to see it when she opened her mouth and started poking at her teeth.

I looked down at where the IV had been about four hours earlier. Without it in, I was okay to move around. But Max hadn't let me. Said it too much of a risk.

So of coarse I threw her orders out the window and swung my feet over the edge of the bed. A sharp pain ripped through my side and I held back the gasp of pain. I also felt a little nauseous but held that down too.

My bare feet touched the cold floor and I gently stood on the balls of my feet. Looking around I saw that everyone was still asleep, which didn't surprise me. It was only two in the morning. So why was Max up?

I was wearing one of those hospital gown you see patients were all the time, another reason I wasn't aloud to walk around. One, my wings were visible through the slit in the back; two, you could see my boxers; and three, it looked like a dress. And I do _not_ wear dresses.

I snuck quietly to the door of the bathroom. Now I could see the full reflection. Max wash hunched over the sink with her head hanging. He hair covered her face and her hands were gripping the sink so hard that her knuckled were white.

She looked back up to the mirror and touched her face. Her eyes were filled with confusion, fear, and disgust.

She started to turn towards the door and I slunk back slightly so she wouldn't see me.

After a few moment I peeked around the corner. She was looking in the mirror again. Now her eyes were unfocused and her lips were moving without sound. Voice.

I sighed inaudibly and went back to the hospital bed. I got under the covers and closed my eyes just in time to here light foot steps coming out of the bathroom. I slowed my breathing so that it looked like I was sleeping.

I listened as her breathing slowed and became calm. I felt her eyes on me and wondered for a moment if she knew I was awake. But then she sighed and went over to her mat. I opened my eyes and saw her curl up with her back to me.

I was worried about her. She had looked really freaked earlier. I wanted to role over and ask her what had happened but she would either deny anything was wrong, or she would yell at me for spying. Or a mixture of the two.

So instead I lay there for a few minutes, thinking about nothing in particular. I knew Max nor I had were going to sleep much tonight. So I just stayed there and listened to the calm even breathing of our sleeping Flock.

* * *

**Okay! I'm posting this way late because of all my homework. _And,_ I'm reading the newest chapter of Alon in the World. It's _really_ good. It's a Maximum Ride fanfic. I suggest you read it.**

**Iggy: I'm sleepy, can we go to bed?**

**Me: Sure thing sweetie, want me to tuck you in? -pets Iggy's head-**

**Iggy: Bite me.**

**Me: :D**

**Review?  
**


	19. Normal and Pedophiles

**Okay, a few quick notes. 1. randombookworm, your avatar is the awesomest thing ever (right after Taylor Lautner, My 6th grade PE teacher, and yodeling pickles) I have this weird thing with warning signs. I think it's the the little stick dudes that make me laugh.**

**2. babiixilyx3 (I'm calling you B, your name's too long) the egg is mine. I expect it back on Friday along with Iggy II. :) (see her/his reviews if you don't get this)  
**

**3. Listen to Krypotnite by 3 Doors Down while reading this.**

**Iggy: Anything else?**

**Me: OF COARSE!**

**Disclaimer (while doing my geometry homework) : Me + Claiming Maximum Ride = Law Suit from James Patterson. Me + Cleverly Written Disclaimer = Entertained Audience and the Freedom To Write A Good Fan Fic!

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**

**Fang POV**

I woke to the sound of Max whisper/shouting with someone I didn't know.

"He needs rest!" I opened my eyes to see Max standing protectively in front of the bed, her back tense.

"We need to see if he's heating up too much." I leaned around Max to see the short, mousy hair nurse from yesterday trying to get around Max, a thermometer in her hand.

"At 6 in the morning!?" 6? Hm... I remembered looking at the clock a few times last night. The last time had been at 4 o' clock, and I had passed out from exhaustion a little while later.

"Max?" Angel said. I looked over to where she was sitting in a chair, Total in her lap. When Max looked at her, angel looked pointedly at me.

SHe turned around and looked surprised to see me up. But it was gone in a flash.

"Nick," she said. God I hated that name. "Would you please tell the nice nurse that it's frickin' insane to take someones temperature at such an early hour?"

I looked at the nurse, who shrunk back from my irritated gaze. "What she said," I said curtly. Then I leaned back against the pillows behind me and closed my eyes.

"If we don't," the nurse said, a sly note in her voice. "He could get a fever and we wouldn't know it. That could lead to a number of dangerous even fatal outcomes for someone in his condition."

My eyes shot open and I glared at her, causing her to take an involuntary step back. That was low. That was _real _low. She had played the he-could-die-a-horrible-death card, one she knew Max would fold to.

I finally met Max's eye and saw the suppresses frustration, stress, and thought she'll never admit it, fear. She was really worried.

I sighed. "Fine," I mumbled.

The nurse smiled triumphantly and came over to the side of my bed. I noticed how she didn't look me in the eyes.

She held up the little white stick with the electric screen on it. "Open your mouth please," she said in a superior voice.

I held back a smirk as a made a show of opening my mouth and barring my abnormally sharp k nines. There was a reason they called me _Fang_.

The nurse turned white and held the thermometer at the very bottom. Then, with a shaky hand, put under my tongue. I snapped my jaw shut, my teeth making a loud _snap! _as they hit the plastic.

The nurse gave out a small shriek and then blushed bright red as the rest of the flock started laughing. I met Max's gaze and saw humor there. At least I was making her feel better.

"I-I'll be back in a-a minute," the nurse said and then left the room. I reached up to take the gross tasting thing from my mouth, but with a look from Max, I stopped.

"Wha?" I mumbled around the stick.

"Leave it in. They won't leave you alone till they get results." Damn her right-ness.

I sighed and sunk back into the pillows. I let my eyes drift shut and relaxed my body. It _was_ only 6 am.

"Okay, that should be good," said the nurses voice as she made her way back into the room. I almost moaned. I had been just about to fall asleep. To make it worse she didn't even have the manners to ask me for to take the thermometer out, she just grabbed it and pulled, nearly pulling my teeth out with it. _Ow._

"Haha," I turned my glarefrom the nurse to Angel. She giggled and ran to hide behind Iggy.

"Oh my," said the nurse, I turned to look at her again.

"99.4," she answered to my questioning gaze.

"Normal," Max said simply.

"But—" she was cut off by Angel.

"Normal," she said.

"You don—"

"Normal," Gazzy filled in, not even looking up from the TV remote he was tinkering with.

"That is—"

"Normal," the entire Flock, including myself, said. The nurse looked slightly frustrated but gave up. She scribbled something down on a clipboard and then left the room.

The next few hours were spent with Max going into more detail about the FBI lady's offer. Her name was Anne and she had plenty of room at her house and blah, blah, blah. I didn't really care. I knew Max didn't either. I would be out by the end of the day. She just wanted the kids to think she was at least giving it some thought.

Around noon after we were done eating a very long, six tray breakfast, Dr. Falk came in.

"Eh Doc," Max said, chewing on a carrot. "What up?" **(Yes, that was supposed to be a Bugs Bunny reference.)**

"I'm here to change Nick's bandages," he said. I sat up a bit and moved the covers. I actually sorta like this guy. I knew it was dumb, condsidering we can't trust anyone, but he seemed pretty cool.

He pulled aside the hospital gown (I had boxers on you pervs) and undid the bandages. His eyes went wide at the lack of blood and gore. There were just a few pink lines left.

"But-but, that's..." he couldn't seem to find the right word.

"Normal?" I guessed. I saw Max smirk out of the corner of my eye.

"I don't understand it," he said. _Ya, well,_ I though, _that's one of the perks of being a bird kid._

"Guess I'm good to go," I said, trying to sit up. The painkillers had worn off about an hour ago. And though I was a million times better then I had been, it was still a little sore.

"Wait!" Anne shouted. Jeez, I'd known her for about ten minutes and I already hated her. "You're nowhere near ready to move or leave. Please, Nick, just lie and rest."

I looked at her calmly, not at all convinced. I glanced at Max to see her smirking at nothing in particular.

"Nick," Anne started again. I was going to have to do something about this name... "now that your feeling a bit better, mybe you can convince your brothers and sister to leave with me."

**Iggy says that would make her a pedophile, **I nearly burst out laughing at Angel's sudden statement. But I held it back at looked at Iggy. As if sensing my gaze he smiled innocently in my direction.

I snapped back into the conversation in time to here Anne say, "Max wouldn't leave without you," and she smiled. _Smiled_. Was Max not wanting me to be left at the mercy of possible whitecoats supposed to be something more? Like, besides the fact that she's super paranoid. "But I'm sure you can see that it's pointless for them to stay here and be uncomfortable. And you'd be joining us in a week or so."

I just looked at her, waiting for her next round of unconvincing excuses.

"So how do you feel about it, Nick?"

I wanted to say something along the lines of "I feel fine physically. About going to your house? Hell no."

Instead I looked to Max. One side of her mouth drooped and I knew the answer.

"Whatever max says," I said. "She's in charge."

Max grinned like the Cheshire Cat. She loved having people call her the boss. "I can't leave Nick," she said. She said my name with humor. She must know I hate it.

"If you all stay, maybe I could examine—," Falk was cut off by Anne.

"Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate all your help."

The Doc didn't look all too happy at the sudden dismissal, but he left anyways.

"We heal really quickly," Max said. I felt my stomach tighten slightly. God, I was hungry...

"What do I have to do to get some food in this joint?" I asked. Those trays earlier had been a sort of phase one.

"You still have an IV. The doctors don't want you eating solid..." she trailed off. Weather at my narrowed eyes or the fact that my IV was already out.

"We saved you a tray," Max lied smoothly. We had had to sneak into the cafeteria and back up to get me food. The Docs wanted to put me back on the IV and didn't want to test how I would do on real food yet. She handed me the tray.

I dug in and said between bites, "I need to get out of here. The hospital smells alone are making me crawl the walls."

It was true too. Max, Ig, and I never did well in places with antiseptic smells. The younger kids seemed to do fine though.

Max looked at Anne. "I think F— Nick is ready to come with us," she said. Ah, so _that's_ where that nickname came from.

"Okay," she said after a few moments thought. "Let me go clear up the paperwork. It'll take about an hour and a half to drive to my house. I live in northern Virginia. Okay?"

"Yeah," Max replied, obviously getting annoyed by Anne's presence.

She left and Max looked at the Flock. I new she was getting ready to give us orders, so I gave her my full attenion.

"I don;t know whats coming, guys, but keep your eyes open and heads up." She glanced at me. "You sure you can move?" she asked.

To be honest, I just really wanted to sleep. I shrugged and pushed the empty tray away from me. "Sure," I said. I layed down and closed my eyes to sleep.

"After all," Iggy said, almost sounding sincere. "Fnick is Superman."

"Shut up, Jeff," Max said. But I could tell she was smiling. They all were. We were finally getting out of here.

* * *

**Me: Wow, that was long.**

**Iggy: Turned out good though. Hey, what was that about Iggy II and an egg on Friday? You know, in the first A/N.  
**

**Me: Can't say. You'll have to wait and see ****-Cheshire grin-**

**Iggy: -backs away slowly-**

**Review?  
**


	20. Grumpy

**My puppy Ozmodiar (Ozzy) is sick. He keeps whimpering even though nothing happened and we have to take him to the doc**— **-notices Iggy- park! We're taking him to the park!**

**Iggy: -sends me suspicious glance-**

**Me: So anyways, probably won't post till late tomorrow night. So here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: After 19 chapters I thought you'd know me better then this by now. But yet, here I am, once again reminding you that I don't own Maximum Ride.

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**

**Fang POV**

Wow.

That's how I'd describe Virginia. Just totally wow. I usually don't notice "pretty" things. But with all the colors on the trees and the open fields filled with horses, it was just... nice. Very nice.

I was sitting on the middle bench of Anne's Suburban; Max one my left, Angel on my right. I was reclined almost completely horizontal, and it really helped my aching side. I was super sore and it didn't help that there were so many bumps in the road. I wasn't going to say anything though, I didn't need Anne nagging me about going back to the hospital.

"Gol," Max said, using a thick accent, "Virginia is shore purty." She was looking at the Gasman who was sitting directly behind her, and he smiled goofily in return. All the younger kids were loving this. Notice how I said only the younger kids.

I was trying not to moan as me hit another bump in the road, and Iggy seemed unimpressed. Probably because he couldn't see any of the scenery. I felt sort of bad for him. This was one of the rare points in our lives that would be nice to see.

I looked over to see how Max was doing. Her cheeks were pink and she had a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead. She looked a little like she had last night.

As if he had noticed, Total looked up at Max and he gave her a questioning look. Well, if a dog could give you a questioning look. He then stood up and jumped onto my stomach. Ow.

When he settled down in Angel's lap she gave me a sweet smile.

"Oh, gosh, look at that," Nudge said as she pointed out the window. "That horse is totally white. Like an angel horse. And what are those rolled-up straw things?"

Anne started to explain so I blocked her out. She was really annoying.

"It's so pretty here," bouncing slightly in the passenger side seat. I could tell she was about to go on one of her rants. "I like these hills. What's the kind of tree with pointy leaves and all the colors?"

"Maples. They usually have the most color," Anne said.

"What's your house like?" Nudge said, changing the subject once again. "Os it all white with big columns? Like Tara? Did you see that movie?"

"_Gone with the Wind_" Anne said. I groaned inwardly. Didn't she know that you weren't supposed to humor Nudge? Just let her run out of steam? Of coarse she didn't. Because she didn't know us. "No, I'm afraid my house isn't like Tara. It's an old farmhouse," Great, we're living in a bar. "But I do have fifty acres of land around it. Plenty of room for you guys to run around. We're almost there."

_50 acres? Why didn't you say so! Who would want the entire sky when we could have a barn on an entire 50 acres!_

**Wow, you're grumpy, **Angel said to me.

_Get out of my head!_ She sighed next to me. She could tell I was stressed. If it weren't for me, we wouldn't be in this mess.

**This isn't a mess. We want this. _Max _wants this,** then she was gone. Great, now she's using guilt.

I sighed and closed my eyes. Everyone was quiet for the time being so I could relax. However, about twenty minutes later, there was a slight clanging of metal from outside the car.

My eyes shot open and focused on the wrought-iron gates opening in front of us. Where were we? Cinderella's castle?

I sat up for the whole minute that it took us to drive up the long driveway. I was looking out the window into the orchards and woods that lined the drive, making sure no one was watching us or had cameras set up. Everything seemed good, but the gates had set me on edge.

"Well, here we are," Anne said, turning around one last turn in the drive. "I hope you like it."

You know how I said that Virginia was wow? Well, I want to change that. Virginia is cool. Anne's house is wow. the place was _huge_. It looked like a mansion with it's river rock base and red clapboard top. There were trees and bushes growing along the edge of the ginormous porch. Even Nudge was shocked silent.

"There's a pond out back. It's so shallow it might still be warm enough to go swim in, in the afternoons. Here, everyone pile out." Anne said. there was a moment of silence before everyone rushed the doors at once.

Me and Max were the last ones out. I couldn't go too fast or else my side started aching, and she was more then willing to wait for me.

"The air smells different here. It smells great." Nudge said.

The hill the house was on sloped down to an orchard like the ones we'd passed on our way up the driveway.

Anne went to the front door and opened it. "Well don't just stand there," she said, laughing. "Come see your rooms."

Gazzy followed Angel and Nudge as they ran through the door. Max had her face towards the sky, her eyes closed and the wind blowing her hair gently around her shoulders.

Iggy saw just staring in the general direction of the front door. He took a deep breathe and smiled at the unpolluted, _clean _smell.

"What does it look like?" he asked in a low voice. Max looked at him and sympathy came into her expressive brown eyes.

I looked back at the house and said the first thing that came to me. "It looks like paradise, Jeff."

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**Okay, the first A/N is irrelevent now, but I'm too lazy to go back and change it. I was typing this late last night and didn't get it done. But Ozzy's fine. Just a little tummy trouble.**

**Iggy: And he's barking again. Yaaay...**

**Me: Yeah I could have lived without that. Oh well, hope you liked the chapter! Oh! And surprise tomarrow!**

**Review?**

**P.S. I'm going to try something. I'm not gonna post again until I get... 62 reviews. That's only 3 more. Not that hard. Maybe i can even post again today. Well, that's up to you. Bye!  
**


	21. Mine

**Yay-ness! Friday! Weekend! 62 reviews! Smurfs! (more about that later)! Well, that's pretty much all the yay-ness I have...**

**Iggy II: -clears throat-  
**

**Me: AND IGGY II IS BACK!!**

**Invisible People: Woo! Yay! Iggy! -clapping-  
**

**Iggy: Haha. They're cheering for me.**

**Iggy II: Ya, right. They're cheering for _me._**

**Iggy & Iggy II: -heated argument- -slap fight- - get hit over heads with steel pipe-**

**Me: -puts down pipe- Okay. I have to go tie these two up, but while I do that you can enjoy the chapter! -drags bird boys into office-**

**Disclaimer: Okay, so I, like, don't own Maximum Ride. Like, none of it. I, like, own this really preppy way I'm talking, but, like, that's it. So...ya, like, that's it...BYE!!

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**Fang POV**

When we went inside the kids went wild.

"OMG!" Nudge squealed jumping up and down. "This place is _huge!_ Oh! Where are the bathrooms? I can't _wait_ to take a shower. I haven't had a nice hot shower since... well, a long time. Oh! And Angel! Agter you wash your hair I can braid it and put bows in it!"

Angel grinned from ear to ear and then got a dazed look on her face. She looked over at Max who was standing awestruck at the door.

"Max?" Angel asked her.

Max glanced at me and I gave her a reassuring half smile. That seemed to help. "Ya sweetie?" she said, smiling down at Angel.

Angel went over and took her hand. "Can me and Nudge do your hair too?"

Max got a look of horror on her face and I almost laughed. She hated make overs. Nudge and Angel had given her one when we were twelve and she had looked really...pretty. But she didn't look like _her_. She had hated it and refused to let them do it ever since.

"Um...how about I just help you tame Nudge's mane?" she offered.

"Okay!" And with that Angel started dragging Max with surprising strength up the stairs to the second floor. Nudge started giggling and followed them. Anne smiled at us and said, "I'll be right back," and went up the stairs to show the girls their rooms.

"That was a no, right? You remember how she was the last time they gave her a make over." Iggy said.

"Ya, I was only six but I'm still freaked by how red she turned." Gazzy added.

I just shrugged and went to where Anne had said the kitchen was. It too was giant.

There was a big black fridge to one side and a counter that went around the entire room. The cieling was high and the floor was a dark reddish brown wood. I opened a few cabinets before I found one with actual food in it. All the others had fancy china and glasses.

"Hm..." I picked out a bow of pop corn. What? Just because I'm living in a pace with indoor plumbing doesn't mean I have to change my diet too.

"Hey man," Iggy said, walking in. He was trailing his hand around the walls and across the counter. "Whatcha makin'?" he asked.

"Popcorn," I said simply. "Mine."

"Come on man," he wined. He stopped at the microwave and looked at the timer with uncanny accuracy. "You can make another one."

"Nope," I said, holding up the empty box even though he couldn't see it. "Last bag."

Iggy grumbled and the walked to the fridge. God, five minutes in a place and he already knows where to raid the fridge. "Ass." me mumbled.

"Yep," I said, grabbing the popcorn from the microwave. Then when I was walking past him I proved the point by taking his soda out of his hand.

"Hey!" he shouted after him but kept walking, chuckling silently.

When I walked back into the living room I saw Anne walk down the stairs. She seemed a little surprised to see me eating and anyone else would have felt guilty. But I had almost died two days ago and I just wasn't the remorseful type. So I didn't really care if she was down one soda a bag of popcorn.

"You're out of popcorn. This is the last bag," I told her, opening the bag. As soon as I did it disappeared. It was literally gone. I just stared after Gazzy as he ran down in the back yard cackling and shouting, "Muahaha!" the whole way.

"Correction," I said. "_That _was the last bag."

She just smiled. "That's fine. I need to go shopping. That's the last soda too if I remember right."

Iggy came into the room then, his face set in anger and he glared at me with unseeing eyes. Yep, this was the last soda.

He came to stand in front of me. And though I'm stronger then Iggy he was still taller. He glared down at me and snatched the soda out of my hand. "_Mine._" he stated, and then turned and walked out the door Gazzy had left through.

Me and Anne just stared after the two. They could be as moody about their food as Max.

"Hey!" came Max's voice from upstairs.

**I told her that, **Angel's voice echoed in my head.

_Gee, thanks,_ Angel's sweet and all, but she can really be a pain in my a—

"Nick?" Anne said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Hm?" was my genius reply. I had completely forgotten she was there.

"The girls are be using the showers. If you want, you can use my computer upstairs. It's the third door on the left, on the desk," she offered. I thought about it. I knew squat about computers, but I had nothing else to do. Like she'd said, the girls were busy. And the guys were probably blowing something up.

"Sure," I said.

I walked up the stairs and went into the room she told me to. I was expecting Ari to pop up and attack. But he didn't, nor did anyone else. It was just a normal office with a bunch of papers piled neatly on the desk in the middle of the room. The bookshelves against the walls were filled to the brim with novels. All fiction. Nothing about genetic enhancements or Recombiant DNA. Good so far.

But I sat down at the computer and loaded up the internet, I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched.

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**Okay, for those who don't get the end, this is chapter where Ari is sitting in a tree watching the flock.**

**And in other news! Today in Geometry a kid got processed (got in trouble and got sent to a different class) to my class and he had to fill out a form like usual. But when he was about to leave my teacher said she didn't like kids who disrespected teachers. So before he left he had to sing.**

**So there he was. This totally macho 9th grade football player singing _I'm a little tea pot_ _AND_ doing the little dance thing in font of my entire class! It was amazing. But Mr. Kinnard, the teacher next door, makes people sing _while wearing a sombrero! _Now _that_ is how you punish a kid! **

**Needless to say, I will have many amazing things to add to the Flock's school experience!**

**Iggy II: Ugh...Where am I...?**

**Me: -hits with pipe-**

**Review?  
**


	22. What If?

**Hey people! Guess what I just did? If you said fix the track on the dishwasher then you would be correct! The rack nearly rolled all the way out and thanks to my super strength and extreme understanding of all things mechanical**—

**Iggy: She snapped a wheel onto a peg.**

**Iggy II: We could have done it. And we're _blind_.**

**Me: What the hell? Why don't you hate each other anymore!?**

**Iggy II: We've found the one thing we dislike more then each other.**

**Me: And what's that? Safety fireworks?**

**Both: You.**

**Me: T-T (I know it's supposed to look like it's crying, but it looks emo!)**

**Disclaimer: When in doubt, assume I don't own it.**

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**Fang POV**

Okay, I had been on this computer for more then two hours and all I'd managed to find out was that Anne liked going onto online newspapers. And it had taken me one of those two hours to just locate her history and that is all I came up with. Well, there were a few things like Google, Hot mail, and even a You Tube video of a remix of some movie with 'hobbits'. **(Type in "they're taking the hobbits to Isengard". IT'S AMAZING!)**

But nothing incriminating. Like, no blue prints on how to graph wings onto humans or a link to the "I'm a Evil Scientist" club. Nothing. Well, there was probably something. I should have Nudge do this. She'd be way better, what with her ability to know stuff. **(I got that line from xxgldxx's MR SPOOF. Great FanFic!)**

"Hey," Max said as I was watching that YouTube video for the tenth time. I don't even know what the clips are from but I still found myself chuckling every once in a while.

"Yo," I said, not glancing up from the screen.

"If you can manage to pry yourself away from your new found obsession," she stated, "that would be nice."

"And why would I do that," I asked distractedly. I had found another video called the mean kitty song. Hm... I wonder if it's anything like Erasers...but you know, with cats...

Suddenly the laptop was slammed closed and Max was right there. Like, _right_ there. Her face was only a few inches from mine.

"We are going outside and you are coming with us," she said as if she was talking to a four year old.

I sighed over dramatically. "Fine," I said with fake boredom. She smiled and I noticed how it make her eyes sparkle.

"Good boy," she said. Then she straightened up and headed towards the door. "Come down to the kitchen when your done up here," she called before turning into the hallway.

I was left there feeling sort of weird. She had been really close. I had seen the splotches on her shirt from her still wet hair, could smell her strawberry shampoo, see the faint blush in her cheeks...

I shook my head. _Well, that was strange..._ I was half expecting Angel to pipe up. But she didn't.

So I went downstairs and met up with the others, too consumed in my own strange, headache inducing thoughts to really notice anything.

We had been walking around the backyard for about an hour. And you know what the interesting thing is? We still weren't done exploring. In most backyards, it would take about, eh, ten minutes to see everything. Here? Waaaaay more.

"You okay?" Max asked me for about the millionth time. I turned and gave her a tired smile.

"I'm fine, Max." I answered.

"You sure?" she wasn't being annoying or anything, but I hated seeing her so worried.

"As sure as I was five minutes ago," I assured her. She blushed slightly and then caught up to the rest of the group.

We were just coming over the top of yet _another_ hill and saw this giant building. Finally! We had come across Anne's secret lair! But then I saw the animals walking in and out the barn doors and sighed quietly. There had to be _something_ bad about her...

"What is that, like, a plane hanger?" Nudge asked.

I wish. "It's a barn," I said tersely. I felt Max watching me and sighed. When was she going to relax?

"A barn with animals?" Angel asked excitedly. Total had started barking as another pig walked out the back doors of the barn.

"Yep, guess so," Max said. She picked Total up and gave him a stern look. "Listen you," she said. "No more with the barking. You're going to spook somebody." Or give me such a big fricken headache that I go on a murderous ramage starting with you.

**Iggy says that's called 'emo',** Angel said, not looking up from the little flowers her and Nudge were looking at.

_Iggy says a lot of things_. I hadn't been in a good mood lately. My side was hovering on the edge of aching and going into the realm of actual pain.

**Just tell Max. She'll make an excuse for you guys to go back to the house.**

_I'm fine. And besides, Max doesn't trust Anne, she wouldn't want to leave you here alone with her._

Angel finally looked at me and gave me a if-you-don't-tell-her-then-i-will-look. She was becoming more and more like max every day.

"That first ones Sugar," Anne said, coming to stand next to Max. Speak and the devil and she shall come.

We had arrived at the barn and were now watching a large gray horse.

"He's beautiful," Nudge whispered right before the Gasman said, "He's big."

"Big and sweet," Anne said with pride. She opened a box and took out a carrot. Okay, random.

I decided to take that opportunity to head back. I tapped Iggy twice on the back of the hand and he nodded. Then I went back out the barn doors.

Okay, so to recap. A random FBI agent wants us to stay with her in her giant farmhouse that she owns even though she's the only one who lives her. And she wants to help us. No strings, no catches. But I'd been through enough to know that there was _always _a catch.

But what if there wasn't? Would Max let us stay here? No. I knew that she wanted to find her real parents. But what if the kids wanted to be safe more then finding their real moms and dads. Would they stay and would Max leave?

And if they did...who would I go with?

* * *

**A little dramatic, ya. But whatever. Okay, so that was the first chapter of part two in the book. And I want to say something about a review I saw. It said that they didn't like reading long stories. So if your like that, stop reading. 'Cause I'm doing the _whole_ book. Not just half or a certain number of chapters, but all 142 (or is it 143...) chapters.**

**Iggy: So, do I have to stay here the whole time?**

**Me: Nope. You're free to go.**

**Iggy II: WHAT!? _He_ can leave, but I'm stuck here!?**

**Me: Yep.**

**Iggy: Yes! -runs out the door screaming- I'm free!**

**...**

**-comes back in- Uh...I don't know where we are...**

**Me: Muahaha.**

**RnR-ness!?**


	23. Types of Pretty and Manly Pride

**AKlimeshis savior of the day. No, the week. No, not even. And not the year either. How about... Savior of Chapter 21**. **Yes, that's sounds good. Okay, I wasn't paying attention and had Anne call Fang, well, Fang. But she's _supposed _to call him Nick. So I deleted the chapter, uploaded the new one (that has exactly _one_ edit) and swapped it with chapter 22 (which was chapter 21 for about 30 seconds) and then everything was good. Except you all got messages saying that a new chapter was added. So you probably all went through the story going, where's my new chapter? Well here it is. I am typing it at hyper speed (which as only one side effect, and that is that there will be mucho spelling errors). Hopefully I'll have this done before you all realize my giant OCD induced mishap. Enjoy!**

**Iggy: Wow. that was long, confusing, and unnecessary.**

**Me: Whatever.**

**Disclaimer: Idon'townMaximumRide. NordoIhavethetimetoputspaces. Sodealwithitandreadthechapter!!**

**P.S. Relax Lylah, Iggy Loves you too.

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**Fang POV**

_What is she thinking?_ I wondered as I watched Max. The Gasman had mentioned the lake (which was supposed to be a pond but come on! The thing was huge) and Max was now _glaring _at it. Like, a monster was about to come up out of it's ten foot depth and eat us all.

Her paranoia was oddly comforting.

Me and Max were standing back from the rest of the group. I wasn't really paying attention to our surroundings though, I was too busy watching Max. She kept casting suspicious glances at the orchards and barn and, well, everything.

_What is she thinking?_ I thought again. Like if I asked enough times I would magically know what she was so worried about, whether or not she wanted to be here, or to just know anything. Max's mind wasn't exactly boring. What with her paranoia, the Voices fortune cookie sayings, and Angel probably constantly popping into her head and annoying her to no end.

I saw Angel send me a glare but was then distracted by something to my right.

"_Sheep!_" she shouted excitedly. She pointed to the fuzzy brown mass, which looked more like a pillow with legs.

"Anne is quite the animal lover," I muttered to Max. I was waiting for one of the fluffy sheep to turn into an Eraser. Or for a horse's eyes to turn red and start to charge us. God, I was becoming such a Max. "Horses, sheep, goats. Chickens. Pigs." All perfect for genetic experimentation....

"Yeah," she said thoughtfully. "I wonder who's for dinner?"

I couldn't help it, I smiled. I didn;t smile that often and when I did it was usually at Max. Interesting, huh? Her eyes flashed with something I didn't recognize and her cheeks turned slightly pink. With her newly brushed hair and squeaky clean skin she looked...pretty.

I saw embarrassment in her eyes and she started walking ahead of me. What? Did I have something in my teeth?

Angel and Nudge started giggling and I glared at them. This just caused them to burst out laughing and run away. I mumble some profanities under my breathe, but kept walking.

Okay, maybe something was wrong with Max. She had gone from awestruck by the house, to suspicious of an apple tree, to embarrassed by nothing at all. Maybe she was bipolar...

But that was exactly how I was acting minus the blushing. And yes, I was embarrassed too. I mean, I had called Max, my _sister_, pretty. And not the oh-you-look-really-nice-today pretty. But the oh-wow-I-shouldn't-think-about-my-sister-that-way pretty.

And now I had a pounding headache. What a great day I was having.

I met up with the rest of the Flock in time see Total being dragged from another dog by Angel; her hand tight on his dark blue collar. _When did you get him a collar?_ I asked her mentally at the same time Max said "Since when does he have a collar?" Angel looked up at me a little surprised, then at Max, a look of pure joy appearing on her face, and continued to haul Total towards our group. All while completely ignoring my question.

"Okay, Total, calm down," she said, petting his head. He stopped barking and I swear on all that is holy that he opened his mouth and said, "Putz."

The first thing I thought was, what the hell? The second this was, Gazzy.

And just as I thought that, the Gasman strolled up to us, whistling nonchalantly. I dub thee guilty.

My head still hurt a bit and my side was screaming for me to head back to the house. Even all of my manly pride could not cover up the fact that I was in pain. I shouldn't have come. I should have stayed at the house, eaten till I was sick, and taken a nice long nap in my room. Ah, my room. The first one I'd had in a few months now.

"Come on guys," Max said, clapping her hands for our attention. "Let's go chow."

And those were officially the six most beautiful words I had ever heard.

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**Ahhhh! Super short but there wasn't much I could do with it. Sorry people. Next one will be better though, I promise.**

**Iggy: And I do not love Lylah.**

**Me: She doesn't love you either, she loves Iggy II.**

**Iggy II: Haha. Now I have _3_ girl fighting over me and you don't have _one._**

**Iggy: No! Lylah's mine!**

**Iggy & Iggy II: -heated argument- -slap fight- **

**Me: -eating popcorn and enjoying the show- You're welcome Lylah. :)**

**If you review then maybe the Iggy's will fight over you too! (And maybe Fang...?)  
**


	24. Are You Done Yet?

**Okay, my computer was being so gay. I added about 50 (literally) really funny quotes to my profile and when I went to save it it said there was an error. So now my profile is the same. God, stupid computer...**

**Iggy: You can have Fnick-is-superman. I hate Fang fangirls. They bug me.**

**Iggy II: Sweet! Then I guess I could spare Madeline Cullen.**

**Me: What the hell?**

**Both: We're sharing fangirls.**

**Me: -_-**

**Disclaimer: Unlike those (very sexy) sexist pigs, JP is unwilling to share. So I don't own Maximum Ride. Stupid James Patterson. Why can't you be more like the Iggy's!?

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**Fang POV**

"Okay, let's see what we have here," Mas muttered as she skimmed over the pages in her lap. We were all in her room, going over the remaining files from the School. The only readable ones had gone missing. I had my suspicions pinned on Anne. Well, her or Total. He tends to chew things he isn't supposed to.

The ones that were left had a bunch of jumbled words and numbers on them. Our job for the rest of the day was to try and find a pattern or look for any clues to our parents. Like, I don't know, one of the papers might have a sentence hidden in there saying, "Hey! Your parents live here!..."

Max straightened up and counted the papers before putting them into piles of two. "How about we each take two pages and comb through them," she suggested. "Figure out what we can. See if anything about the numbers looks familiar or has a pattern."

I felt Iggy tense next to me where we were sitting on the carpet. "Sounds like a plan," he grumbled, obviously mad. But more at the whitecoats than Max. "Except for me."

"I'll read you out some numbers," I said, trying to avoid an argument. Max hated us feeling weak as much as herself feeling weak.

He nodded but still seemed frustrated. Max handed out the papers and I started reading the lines slowly and softly. Iggy nodded every now and then. I glanced at Max every once in a while. But she seemed pretty concentrated on the task at hand.

"Fang?" Iggy asked. I realized that I had stopped reading and Max glanced at me. When she met my eyes she blushed and looked back down. Iggy looked at me then then towards Max. I don't know how he knew she had looked but he knew. Then he smiled evilly at me.

"Did I miss something?" he asked innocently. I elbowed him in the arm and he snorted with laughter.

"Did I miss something?" Max asked. This only caused Iggy to laugh harder. Nudge and Gazzy were looking at him like he was crazy. Angel just smiled slightly and looked at me.

**I told you,** she said.

_Told me what?_ But she didn't answer. Instead she went back to looking at her papers. I was starting to see why Max hated her Voice.

"Are you done?" I hissed at Iggy, pulling him by his arm into a sitting position.

"Ya, are you?" What? Th— oh. Oh, God.

"You're sick." I said and then went back to reading the papers. But now I just went through not paying attention. Eventually Iggy slipped back into a semi-serious mood and started nodding again. Gazzy and Nudge just shrugged at each other and went back to work.

Max however looked like she was about order padded walls for our rooms. When I met her eye she raised an eyebrow. I just shook my head slightly and looked back at the lines.

"K-R-23-S-R-R-7-F-L-N-ter Bortch-L-O—" Iggy interrupted me.

"What was that?" he whispered. Ya, _now_ he whispers.

"L-O," I said.

"No, right before the L. Ter something." he said.

"I looked back to where my finger was keeping my spot. "Ya, ter Bortch. I'll mark it," I replied, picking us the highlighter Max had given each of us. I ran the orange marker over the words. Ter Bortch. Hm...didn't sound familiar, but it may be something.

After another half hour or so Max finally threw her hands up in frustration. I had been watching her the last few minutes and saw how her concentration turned slowly to frustration and then anger.

"This is impossible," she said moving the papers around angrily. "This is probably a computerized code. If it is, we'll never break it."

I had been fearing the same thing. All the code breaking techniques we knew had had no effect on the papers. There was no pattern. No order. Ter Bortch was the only thing we'd found, and that made as much sense as any other nine letters on the page. Which is none, for those who were wondering.

"But isn't everything a test," Gazzy asked sleepily. Nudge was rubbing her eyes and Angel kept yawning. "Didn't Jeb tell you that everything is a test, back at the School, when we were rescuing Angel? So that would mean we're supposed to be able to break this somehow."

Max sighed and rubbed her forehead. We'd been at this for a little over an hour and everyone pretty much out of it. I had even had to shake Iggy awake a few times.

"I thought of that," she said. "That's what's so irritating. Ive tried everything that would occur to me. So I guess I'm flunking this test."

I was shocked. Max _never_ admitted to not being able to do something. There was knock on the door though, so I didn't get to ask her if she was okay.

Anne poked her head in and said, "Hey, guys. Sleepy yet? Krystal? Want to get ready for bed?"

"Yep. I'm beat," Nudge said. The Gasman looked at Max and she nodded.

"Yeah," he said to Anne. "We were just about to crash."

I looked at Max and saw something in her eyes. I couldn't tell what is was. Sort of sad and regretful and...jealous. I looked back at Anne, who was being followed by a sleepy looking Angel.

Was Max...no. She couldn't. She always complained about how she hated taking care of us. I bet she loved having Anne here to help. Or was I wrong? Did she like dealing with Angel's attitude and Gazzy's, er, _special_ ability? I always thought she would be relived to have help with the kids.

Iggy stood up and looked in my direction expectantly. I got up and started to head towards the door. Before I left I sent Max a smile. She loved it when I smiled and I knew it would make her feel better.

And that's what scared me. 'Cause this time...it didn't work.

* * *

**I liked that one. I think it was cute.**

**Iggy: You made me seem like a pig.**

**Me: Said the guy treating fangirls like trading cards.**

**Iggy II: Ya, you sexist pig.**

**Iggy: You started the whole trading thing!**

**Iggy II: No I didn't!**

**Iggy: Fine, then you won't mind if i take all of them. Fnick-is-superman, Madeline Cullen, B, randombookworm, The Flock's Bud, mimimi213, Beyonce**—

**Me: Enough! Iggy, you get Maddy. Iggy II, you get the Fang fan. The others besides B could be dudes for all you know. And when the hell did Beyonce say she wanted to be your fan!?  
**

**Iggy: You meet a lot of people when you're a bird boy.**

**Iggy II: Tis true.**

**Reviews? They make me happy. Which can be converted into patience. Which I need a _whole_ lot of right now.**

**(And kudos if you got the innuendo I threw in there :))  
**


	25. Not Even Porn or Jonas Brothers

**Okay. I came home to a fickin' tarantula. It was the size of a mouse (literally) and me and my sister had to spray it with half a bottle of Bug Killer and then beat it with a broom.**

**Iggy: But her real accomplishment is that she made me blind _and_ deaf. **

**Iggy II: Ya, that scream was _loud._**

**Me: It nearly landed on my face! How would you have reacted!?**

**Iggy II: I wouldn't have seen it coming, nor known what it was. So I probably wouldn't have screamed bloody murder like _someone._**

**Me: We'll see about that. :)**

**Iggy's: -gulp-**

**Disclaimer (while helping Devyn with Spanish): No tengo Maximum Ride. ****¡**Sin embargo, la de Iggy todavía me amas! 

**Iggy's: ¡No!**

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**Fang POV**

So our lives at Anne's house was probably normal for most people (minus the flying), but to us, it was even weirder then being kidnapped and taken to an evil scientist testing facility. I mean, breakfast, lunch, _and_ dinner? That was only a dream to us. And showers? My first one in weeks. And then there was the part where we weren't constantly being attacked or no having to wake up at three in the morning to fly fifty mile with no breakfast.

So was I weird for hating every second of it?

It's not that I don't appreciate what Anne's doing for us, but would it be so hard to not be there? Well, not as much anyways. She was always watching us eat, fly, fight, play. I even woke up once when I heard my door open. And guess who it was? No, not the elves, Anne.

And she was a worse cook then Max. At least Max tries, Anne just says, "Hm, you don't want a granola bar and 5 ounces of energy drink? Well then that sucks for you!". Okay, not exactly like that, but close enough.

And then there was the questions. It was always how do you this and how did you that. And she asked the same things over and over again. Like, she kept asking Iggy how he had become blind, and he told her every time, "I was ignorant. Looking into that eclipse just seemed like such a great idea at the time...". Guess we're not as good of liars as we thought.

And when she wasn't asking questions, she was just there. Trying to be all mom-like. Not that I've ever had a mom though. I'm just saying mom like because it's what max does, but in an annoying way.

Ah, Max. She was getting more pissed everyday. It had started with the whole Anne-putting-the-kids-to-bed thing, and then went down hill from there. Anne was buying them clothes, bandaging their cuts, running their baths. And talking to them. Just talking. Those were Max's jobs, and we all knew it. We were just humoring her. But max didn't see it that way. She thought we liked Anne better then Max.

Though, Nudge did seem to be talking to Anne about stuff she didn't talk to Max about. And Gazzy was always telling her jokes that I'm sure Max had never heard. And it was Anne, Iggy went to when he couldn't find something. And Angel...well, I think that's what killed Max the most. Angel, _her baby,_ was letting Anne take care of her.

But not I. Not because I care how Max feels, or anything. I just love seeing the look in Anne's eyes when I tell her no. And, well, I'm sort of afraid that Max might kick my butt if I did fall into Anne's web-o-kindness. She just loves the little kids too much and Iggy's blind, so it would be unfair. But would she feel guilty for hitting me? Nope, I am not young, nor a cripple. Sucks for me I guess.

But aside from my rants on Anne's annoying-ness and my being Max's personal punching bag, things were good. The mystery of the papers was really bugging me though. I had asked Max after that first night if I could look over the papers myself. She had said yes, almost in relief, and given them to me.

So that leads to where I am now. On my bed, in my room, having no idea what the hell to do with these damned sheets of compressed fibers.

Hm. What could I do...ah! I know! I'll do what all great minds do when they don't know what to do!

So I Googled.

The only problem is, I still came up with nothing. And that _really_ got my spirits down. I mean, 99.9 percent of the stuff you type into Google, can in one form or another, be linked to either porn or the Jonas Brothers. And my search came up with neither or those. So needless to say, my hopes were pretty much crushed.

I had been sitting in Anne's office for nearly three hours now,—it was the only place with a computer—and was just looking around the book cases. Some of the lower shelves had a thin layer of dust covering them. But there were a few that you could tell had been read recently, so I picked some of those up. They were mostly romance novels and cook books. But there was one that caught my eye. An atlas. As in, a book with maps. Then it hit me. Of _coarse!_ Why didn't I think of that?

Oh wait, I did. Huh....Moving on.

I went back to the desk and picked up one of the sheets. Ya, these could _definitely_ be coordinates. All I need is a map that matches up with it. But the atlas was too broad. Maybe Anne had something I could use in the car. I was about to go to her room and ask if I could check it out, but then i had seconds thoughts. What if she wasn't all good? Did I want her to know about the papers?

I decided it would be better safe then sorry. So I went to the car and found just what I was looking for. _Maps of the D.C. Area_. Perfect.

I sat down in the back seat and looked for something I could use. I saw the Gasman's name first so I used the numbers after it. Twenty-seven, eight, G nine. I went to page twenty-seven, flipped to part eight of it's grid, and moved my finger over to column G, row nine. And there it was. A pretty darn specific section of town. Only about two or three streets were shown on that part of the grid. And they weren't even the whole street, just a few houses from each. I tried it again with the number's by Nudge's name. It worked.

I had to tell Max.

I gathered all the stuff and then snuck quietly in through the window I had come out of. I hadn't felt like dealing with Anne's million questions. I came into the house right across the hall from Max's room. Sweet! I don't even have to sneak around.

I went to the door and barely brushed my knuckles against the wood. I didn't want to wake the kids in the adjoining rooms.

"Yeah?" came Max's whispered reply. I wasn't really surprised that she was still up, she hadn't been sleeping much lately.

I opened the door and shut it silently behind me.

"What's up?" she asked, sitting criss-cross apple-sauce **(that's what I call it, it's the same as Indian style)** on the bed. She was wearing a dark blue tank top and gray shorts. One of her "summer" outfits. We had all converted summer clothes into PJ's now that we had heating.

I sat next to her and said, "Look." I set a few of the coded sheets onto her lap. Then I opened the book across her knees to the first page.

"I was looking at this stuff, going nuts, you know?" I started to explain. "And suddenly it looked like map coordinates."

She drew in a small gasp, immediately seeing the possibilities. I took her silence as a sign to continue.

"This is a book of detailed street maps of Washington D.C.," I said, pointing to the book in question. "I got it out of Anne's car. Look — each page is numbered, each map is numbered, each grid of each map is numbered. And look at this clump of stuff here," I indicated the cluster around Gazz's name, "by Gazzy's name. Twenty-seven, eight, G nine.

"So I go to page twenty-seven, and it's a section of town, see?"

"Yeah," she whispered. She seemed eager to see where this lead. This was going to get me mucho brownie points (or as Max liked to call them, cookie points).

"This section has twelve smaller maps. I go to map eight," I flipped the pages. "Which is a blowup if one of the section. Then I go to column G and trace it down to row nine." I traced across and down the page, until my finger was pointing to the clump of streets from earlier. "And it's a pretty specific little chunk of streets."

I was really winded after that explanation. I don't know how Nudge does it... "Oh, my God," she said. "Did you try any others?"

I nodded. "This one by Nudge's name. Same thing— I actually end up with a real place."

"You are so brilliant," she said, smiling up at me. Heh. Uh, ya...er...um...wow, she has a nice smile.... I shrugged, fearing for a moment that she had seen my slight embarrassment. She didn't...I think.

"But I thought Nudge was pretty sure she's found her parents in Arizona," she added.

I shrugged again, remembering the woman we'd seen in the trailer park. I really hoped that wasn't her mom. "I don't know," I said. "The woman we saw was black, but it wasn't like Nudge was a photocopy of her. You think this is worth checking out?"

"Absolutely," she said, crawling over me to get off the bed. Okay, not awkward. "Everyone else asleep?" she asked.

"Yeah. Including the Annemeister." I had checked on her before leaving to get the maps.

"Okay. Gimme a minute to get some jeans on."

Alright. Let's go find our parents.

* * *

**Okay, you have no idea how hard it was to not completely ditch the plot and throw a hot make out scene in there**.

**Iggy's: Eeeeew!**

**Me: Whatever. Oh! And a big thank you to Maddy for calling it the 'epitome of awesomeness'!**

**Iggy II: Yes, now she has someone to share her big words with.**

**Iggy: That's just what we need, another Sam.**

**Me: I really need to do something about all this Sam hating... Also! Fnicky, (Fnick-is-superman's nick name curtesy my laziness) I sort of guessed that you were a girl. Though it would be awesome if you were a guy. There aren't enough Fang loving guys in the world...**

**Fang: -appears- I agree –disappears-**

**Me: O.o ... I'll let you guys interpret that yourselves.**


	26. Crap? That's It?

**Me: :O**

**Iggy II: I'm worried. Maybe we should take her to the doctor's?**

**Iggy: Nah, she'll be fine. She just has to get over the initial shock of all those reviews.**

**Iggy II: Jeez. 34 reviews in one day. 25, from one person... **

**Iggy: -clears throat- Sam? Sam, you okay?  
**

**Me: :O**

**Iggy: -sigh- How 'bout we post the chapter and see if she's any better by the end.**

**Iggy II: K'ay.**

**Disclaimer: Um... she doesn't own anything? At least we don't think she does. She doesn't tell us much. She says we're "not trustworthy".

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**

**Fang POV**

We flew due east for about an hour, checking the map every now and then to make sure we were going in the right direction.

"Down there," I called to Max. We were about three blocks from the the first street in the picture. We angled our wings downwards and started to desend.

We landed in the woods and looked around to make sure no one had seen us. The only lights on were from the street light and the sliver of moon in the sky.

"Let's go," Max whispered. We crept along the tree line until there were no more trees to give us cover. I looked at the map again. "That way," I said, pointing down the street. We ran through backyards until we were in another clump of woods. About fifty feet in there was a break in the trees.

Max looked at the maps and whispered, "It should be right through there." I just nodded, not wanting to give way to my building excitement. If this worked then we were going to find our parents. Well, a few of them, but parents none the less.

But that warm, fuzzy feeling left as soon as we came to the edge of the trees.

"Hmm," Max said, not seeming nearly as disappointed as I felt. But then again, she was almost as good at hiding her emotions as I was.

I balanced the book against my knee and a fire hydrant, flipping to the right page. Then I checked the numbers. Que internal sigh. They matched, just like before.

"No, you're right," she said. "This is it. If those are map coordinates, then this is where we should be."

Okay, that sort of stung. If _I_ was right. Not _us_ or _we_. _Me._ Well, at least I hadn't told the rest of the flock yet. They would've been crushed to find this place. Well, maybe not the Gasman.

I say this because it was not a little cottage tucked into a clearing with a garden and a dog in the front yard. Instead, we were thirty feet from a pizza shop. Not even a good one, like Pizza Hut or Papa Johns.

There wasn't a house or apartment complex on the entire block. "Well, crap," I said, though I wanted to say a few, more colorful word.

"I concur with that assessment," Max said, starting to walk across the street. "Maybe there was an apartment building here and it got torn down," she called back as she reached the other side walk. I sighed and stood from my crouch, then went to stand beside her.

Max had her hands cupped around her eyes against the glass. I took up a similar position and looked around inside. On one wall was a black and white picture with a small caption. It read, "Here since 1954.". Hm, maybe we were all older then we thought...

"So much for that theory," I muttered, leaning my back against the glass.

"So you want to swear this time or do you want me to?" Max swearing? Interesting...

"You can," I said, shoving the coded sheets into my pocket.

"Well, _crap_." Crap? That's it? "Okay. Let's try the next one. Maybe we'll get lucky." she suggested. Oh, hell, why not?

And Max was right, we did get lucky. Well, sorta. At least this place was a house...at one point. Now it was falling apart and crowded with people farther down the social lader then me and the Flock. And that's saying something.

"Now, _that's_ what I call a good growing environment." I said sarcastically.

Max gave me a look but didn't say anything back. "Let's check it out anyway," she finally suggested.

We had to wait a while for the two guys who were there to leave. But the last one eventually left, and after another twenty minutes of waiting for him to come back, Max deemed it safe.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready." With that we jumped the ten foot gap between the buildings. Very Matrix.

Now let's just hope that The Agents aren't waiting for us inside.

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**Iggy: Huh. That was short.**

**Me: Yup.**

**Iggy II: Hey! You're okay again!**

**Me: Yup. And now, I shall reply to my reviews! -takes deep breath- **

**Iggy: -clamps hand over mouth- How about you just send replys?**

**Me: -nod-**

**Iggy II: Wow, if I knew that would shut her up I'd've duct taped her mouth shut forever ago.  
**

**Iggy: I've learned a bit after living with Nudge for all these years.**

**Review? (wonder if you guys can beat Bubble-chan's record for reviews in a row...)**


	27. Baby

**Okay, that last one was too short, so here's a second!**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

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**

**Fang POV**

Can you say creepy? This place was gross, and it takes a lot to make me say that. The window we crawled through was bad enough. The glass was broken and I swear there was blood on a few of the shards. And in place of the screen was a nice big spider web, with a spider the size of a small bird in the middle. Cliche, but creepy. Then when we got into the hallway the floor boards were covered in dust and trash. Mostly beer cans and even a few old needles. There were a few mice scurrying along the floor, leaving little spots in the thick dust.

"Least favorite living arrangements," I whispered as we tip toed into the first room. "Bunking with a supposed FBI agent, or a sleepover with a bunch of druggies in DC's equivalent of Hell's Kitchen?"

Max flashed me a half smile, "Anne's. Her place smells better." she answered.

"Of coarse," There wasn't anything in here, so we went to open the closet. But when we opened it there was a giant gust of air that carried with it a mix of dead rat, rat poo, and something worse then the two combined.

I closed the door and started going over to what looked like an office just off this bedroom type place.

"Least favorite place," Max asked me. "Sewer tunnels of New York? Or abandoned home of squatting crackheads?"

My lips twitched slightly as I thought about my options. Both had their up downs and... ya, downs.

"I'd have to go with sewer tunnels of New York," I said, stepping through the door to the office. God, that placed had smelled too bad to go back to. Though this wasn't much better.

The office just had a single wooden desk in the middle, with a rickety plastic chair behind it. We went through the few papers and drawers. Pens, paper, cock roaches, etc.

We had come in through a second story window and were slowly making our way down. There wasn't much to see. Just the same near empty rooms, trash, and rodents big enough to be some kind of new Eraser hybrid.

"We got nothing," Max said, rubbing her hand across her forehead. It left a big streak of gray. "This stinks."

Literally. "Yeah," I agreed. "Well, get this last chapter and we'll split."

She nodded and opened the hallway closet. There was nothing, like every other room in this God forsaken place.

When I was turning to head back to the window we'd come through, I saw Max tense. Had she heard something I'd missed? I listened closely but didn't hear anything. I looked to see her frowning, the pen light in her hand. She was shining it on a little white crack in the left side of the closet. She reached in her hand and started scratching at it.

"What?" I asked. I don't know how she'd seen it. It was nearly the same color as the wall when the pen light wasn't making it reflect the light. Had the voice told her something was there.

"Nothing, I'm sure," she whispered, sounding unsure. "But I'll just get it..."

She dug her fingernails into the crack and pulled out a small piece of paper. Great, more paper.

Max flipped it over and gasped. I leaned over her shoulder and saw what looked like a picture. What the heck? Why was there a picture stuffed into the wall of an abandoned house.

Max held the light close so we could see it better. It was of a woman holding something in her arms...

I nearly gasped too. In her arms was a baby. But not just any baby. A certain blond haired, blue-eyed, cowlicked, bird kid with a messed up digestive system.

The Gasman

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**That was short too. But the chapters in the book were barely more then one page. Damn you James Patterson and your unnecessarily short chapters!**

**Iggy: Chapter one, the doorbell rang.**

**Iggy II: Chapter two, I went to the door.**

**Iggy: Chapter three, I reached for the doorknob, but my hand slipped.**

**Iggy II: Chapter four, darn you slippery fingers!**

**Me: Wow. **

**RnR?**

**(What's sad is that I actually had that conversation with my mom last week :P)  
**


	28. I Can Be Cheesy

**Wow, mucho reviews... again! I'm so happy! Thank you everybody!**

**Iggy: We'd like to thank the academy...**

**Me: -opens mouth- -thinks- -shuts mouth- Oh no.**

**Iggy II: What?**

**Me: I can't think of anything sarcastic to say.**

**Both: -gasp!-**

**Disclaimer: I...I don't own it. But...no, that's it. I-I can't... -runs away crying-

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**

**Fang POV**

"Holy moly," Max breathed. We were still staring wide eyed at the picture when I heard loud foot falls coming up the front steps. To quote Max: Crap.

"They're back," I stated the obvious. "Upstairs!"

We spun around and ran for the stairs. But the window on the landing cast our shadows onto the hallway wall. I just hoped whoever it was was too loopy with whatever to notice them.

"Hey!" a guy's voice shouted from downstairs. Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP!

More loud, clumsy footsteps pounded behind us. There was a huge _bang!_ that seemed to vibrate the house. "That's your head!" another voice shouted; this one also a guy. "We're gonna bust you up!"

I actually stopped at that, right at the top of the stairs. Bust us up? Had we been transported into some lame gangster movie? I shook my head and started running, just to realized that it was a dead end. Where had Max gone?

I turned around to see her at the other end of the hall, I must have run the wrong way. She motioned for me to follow. I barely took one step before the two druggies staggered into the hallway between us. They spotted Max first.

"So," one of them spat, smacking a baseball bat against his hand. "You think you can pop our crib?"

Okay, this was all we had to deal with? Two totally wasted, _normal_ humans spewing old, cliched movie lines? This was a little _too_ easy.

They stopped suddenly and I was going to use it as my chance to attack—they still hadn't noticed me—but I froze when the one carrying a broken bottle started talking.

"It's a chick, man!" he shouted, suddenly seeming excited. Chick? What chick? A picture of a baby chicken popped into my head.

The guy pulled out something that glinted in the moonlight. A knife. A _big_ knife.

"We don't care whose chick you are," the bat-swinging one snarled. "For the next hour, you're gonna be _our_ chick."

I was suddenly livid with anger. _Their_ chick? Over my genetically enhanced, bird kid body.

I made a snap decision (I like to call it 'A Max') and snuck up behind the two goons.

"Excuse me?" I heard Max say in a deadly voice when I was only a few feet away from them. "Can we say sexist?"

Ah, there's my Max. I mean Max. The Max. A Max. Um...onward!

"Boys," I said in my best 'spooky' voice. "God doesn't like you." They wanna play cheesy? 'Cause I can play cheesy.

They spun around and shouted "Wha!" I saw Max over their shoulders and she was making a serious WTF? face. **(Thank you Maximum Ride fan quiz for that one)**

I saw the surprise and anger on their faces. Yep, I had their attention.

I unfurled my wings and grabbed the pen light out of my pocket. My wings are pretty big, so they were basically taking up the entire width of the hallway. I shone the light under my chin, just like I'd seen in a hundred TV shows and movies.

I saw Max again and her mouth was open. Wow, I must really look scary...sweet.

I moved my wings up and down, letting little streaks of light to come through the gaps between them and the ceiling. "God doesn't like bad people," I said, my voice low and threatening.

"What the hell," one of the creeps said shakily. His eyes were nearly popping out of his skull. Excellent. "I'm trippin'." he mumbled.

"I see it too," whispered perv numero dos **(Number 2)**. He said it like he didn't want me to hear them. "We're both trippin'."

There was a slight ruffling and I turned my glare to where Max was. What was she doing? She was supposed to be escaping! But there she was, her wings extended just like mine.

"This was test," she said in a surprisingly creepy voice. It was calm and innocent, but matched with her glare, she looked down right deadly. "And guess what? You both failed."

The guys froze, looking at her with horror evident on their filthy faces.

"_Rowr!"_ I growled. Believe, me it sounded a lot scarier in real life. I flapped my wings a few times, taking a step towards them. I saw Max suppressing laughter.

"_Rowr!"_ she mimicked me, walking towards them. Okay, now I see why she was laughing.

"Ahhh!" the goons cried, stumbling backwards. Only thing was that they were still at the top of the stairs and I watched as they fell down two flights of stairs. They screamed like little girls the whole way, clawing at each other and the walls.

I actually laughed as Max gave me a high five. But we had to get out of there. So we booked it down the hall and jumped out the window at the end. I dipped a few feet before I was able to get enough lift to take off. We laughed most of the ways home.

Too bad that had been the only up side of our search.

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**Woot! Long(ish) chapter!**

**Iggy: -walks into room with food- Hey guys, I made chicken wings.**

**Me: Sweet! -jumps up from computer-**

**Iggy: No! That's where you say 'Hey, wouldn't that be cannibalism?'**

**Iggy II: -sigh- It's alright man. Maybe next time.**

**Me: ...I can still have the wings, right?**

**Review? Hopefully my sarcasm will be working by the next chapter...  
**


	29. Over White Noise

**Iggy: Hey everybody! Sam's too busy watching Bones to**—

**Me: Shut up! Booth and Brennan are making fun of Sweets!**

**Iggy II: Sweets?**

**Me: Yes Sweets. And since you seem to be so interested in it, that's what I'm gonna call you from now on!**

**Iggy II: -mutters- Nice to see _your_ feeling better.**

**Me: Yep! I'm back baby!**

**Disclaimer: You know how this site is called _Fan _Fiction? Ya, well there's a reason for that.

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**

**Fang POV**

After we had gotten home the night before Max and I decided not to tell the kids about the picture or the coordinates. There was no way of knowing how the picture got there and it just wasn't worth getting their hopes up that we were getting close. All we could do is wait for the next plan of action.

Which Max had decided to completely ignore so she could take a shower. Typical.

I was sitting in the living room with Nudge and Gazzy, they were playing with s deck of cards Anne had found lying around the house.

"Okay," said Nudge, "...got any twos?"

"HA! GO fish! _Again!_" the Gasman exclaimed.

"Gazzy!" Angel shouted, running into the room. "That's cheating!"

"What is?" Nudge asked.

"He has a two, and he didn't giveit to you!" Angel looked a little hurt that her brother would do such a thing. It's weird what worries these kids sometimes.

"Gazzy! Give me the two! Angel's right, that is cheating! Fang! Gazzy's cheating!" Nudge yelled, standing up and trying to grab the cards out of Gazzy's hands.

"Jeez Nudge," I muttered, plugging my ears. "I'm right here, no need to yell."

"But Fa-ang," she wined, giving me the Bambi eyes. "It's not fa-air!"

Damn you Bambi eyes. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "Gaz, just give her the card. We all know your collecting fives anyways, it's not a big deal."

He just looked at me, his eyes wide. Angel was doing the same. What? Had I grown a second head or something. I looked to Nudge for some sort of explanation, but she was counting on her fingers and didn't notice my gaze. Suddenly her head snapped up and she exclaimed, "That was 18 words! In a row!"

Man, I just shouldn't talk. If I do, Max yells at me to speak more. If I do speak more, Nudge stops talking, Gazzy says he'll never fart again, and Iggy says he can see. It just wasn't worth the effort.

I nodded curtly to them and stood. I passed Iggy on my way to the stairs.

"Hey, man," he said, almost sounding worried. "Is Max okay?"

I shrugged, then realized her couldn't see it. There goes my permanent silence. "I guess. Why?" I said. I hadn't really talked to Max all day. Just some words exchanged over breakfast.

"'Cause, I was just talkin' to her and one minute she sounded annoyed and the next... I don't know. I thought maybe you could try talking to her." he explained.

"Why me?" I didn't say it in a whinny, why-is-it-always-me-voice. More curiously then anything.

He just gave me a disbelieving look. "Why you? Do you seriously not know the answer to that?" he asked.

"Um... no?" I had no idea what he was getting at.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. I heard him mutter something along the lines of, "God, your an idiot..." and just scowled.

"Just talk to her, will ya?" he said loud enough for me to here this time.

I just shrugged and knew he'd understand though he couldn't see. I walked down the hall to where the staircase was. When i was halfway up, just barely able to see the second floor hallway, I heard a loud slamming noise.

I looked up to see the bathroom door ricochet off the wall and then a flash of white go across the hall. It sort of look like Max, but I wasn't sure. Whatever it was flew through one of the open doorways and slammed that door too.

**Fang? **Angel sent to me. **I think somethings wrong with Max. Her thoughts are too jumbled for me to get anything clear. Just some flashes.**

_I'm on it,_ I said and took the rest of the steps three at a time.

When I got to her door I tried to be as quiet as possible. I couldn't hear anything but the air coming out of the vent a few feet away. I pressed my ear to the door and concentrated. After a few seconds I distinguished another sound from the white noise of the vent. It sounded like...breathing? But it was labored and shallow. Like someone who had just won a marathon.

Okay, that wasn't normal. _Angel? _I asked, not looking away from the door. _What's Max thinking?_

There was a pause, then, **She thinks she's going crazy. Something about Erasers. I can't get anything else though, she thinking too much at once.**

Going crazy? Eraser? Had she seen an Eraser or something? This couldn't be good.

I was about to barge into the room but something stopped me. I didn't want to freak her out anymore then she already was.

I pulled away from the door and took a deep breathe, letting out slowly through my nose. Then I knocked

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**I hate these short chapters! It makes me feel like I'm skipping out on you guys, you know? I hope I can make the next one longer. Fang should have some interesting thoughts to share. And if he doesn't, well, I'll make them interesting. As I like to say, you can never have too many awkward moments.**

**Iggy II: I thought you liked to say 'wouldn't it be awesome...' and then something about some sort of mystical being.**

**Me: You can be quiet the buzz kill, ya know that Sweets?**

**Iggy: I like that name.**

**Me: Good, you can be Peter Pan.**

**Iggy: Why!?**

**Me: 'Cause you can flyyyyyyyy! -makes bird with hands-**

**Iggys: O.o**

**Review? (If I can get at least six reviews then I'll make the next chapter at least 2,000 words, _not_ counting A/N.)  
**


	30. Now She Knows

**Okay, I had an entire A/N planned out where me and the Iggy's fight and then I say something sarcastic, and then I do a Disclaimer. But I am in too much shock. Why? Well because Maddy got me up to and past 150 reviews. So thank you Maddy, you're up there with Bubbley-chan on my favey reviewer list. This is for you two!**

**Disclaimer: There are two types of people in the world. Those who own Maximum Ride, and those who don't. Unfortunately, I fall into the second category.

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**

**Fang POV (Iggy: ^ That line? Ya, I put it there. Me: -facepalm- You couldn't have waited till the end A/N?)**

"I'm out of the bathroom," Max called. Um, okay. Thank you?

"Yeah," I called back, "I can tell, 'cause your voice is coming from in there."

"What do you want?" she sounded nervous, like she didn't want to be talking to me right now.

"Can I come in?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"No!" she shouted. So of coarse I turned the handle. That's just the kind of nice, considerate person I am.

I leaned in the doorway and looked her up and down, making sure she was okay. Which just from the look on her face, I could tell she wasn't.

Her hair was still wet from her shower and stuck to her forehead in thick clumps. Her face was pale and her eyes were blood shot and wide. The only thing covering her shaking frame was one of the big purple towels from the bathroom. She ran her hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face. But she sort of petted her cheek as she did so. And when she looked down at her hands shyly, it looked more like she was examining them. But whatever she was looking for wasn't there, and I could see the look of relief pass over her worried face.

A million questions popped into my head. Most of which started with 'what the hell?'. So I transferred all those questions into Fang Language. In other words, I raised an eyebrow. She didn't say anything so I came into the room and shut the door quietly behind me.

"What's going on?" I asked. You see, I'm sort of like a picture, my phrases and gestures say a thousand words. And all without actually saying a thousand words. Sometimes I consider giving Nudge lessons...

"I don't know," she whispered gravely. "Somethings wrong with me, but I don't know what."

Okay, this was bad. This was _real_ bad. Max admitting that something was wrong and that she didn't know what to do was like me actually saying those thousand words I just mentioned.

I stood there a moment, debating how to comfort her. I eventually walked calmly over to her bed and sat down. I put my arm awkwardly over her shoulders. I mean come on, she was only wearing a towel.

She didn't seem to notice, she was too caught up in her own thoughts.

Right now, Max wasn't the only one who didn't know what to do.

"You'll be okay," I said in what I hoped was a comforting voice. I didn't usually do stuff like this.

"How do _you_ know?" she asked in a weak attempt at annoyance, but her heart just wasn't in it.

"Because I know everything, as I keep reminding you." I watched her, waiting for that brilliant smile or for her surprise at my full sentences. But all I got was a small sigh and her cuddling into my side.

"Look," I whispered, trying to catch her eye. But she had her face buried in the crook of my neck. "Whatever this problem is, we'll deal with it." Her breathing seemed to become a little less panicked at this. "We always have before," I added. This time her shoulders relaxed, but only a little.

She looked up at me for a second but then set her head back down on my shoulder. At least now I could see her face.

"Fang—," she seemed to get choked up on my name a bit. I could tell it was hard for her to admit whatever it was she was saying. "if I'm changing, if I'm turning into something... bad— will you deal with it?"

What was she talking about? She could never be something bad. It was in her nature to help, not destroy. Unless... for some reason my train of thought went to the the problem of the chip. What if there was more to it then brain attacks and a voice? What if it was changing her?

She took a deep breath and finally met my eyes. She looked so scared... "If I turn into an Eraser," she spoke more strongly, but I was feeling weaker by the second, "will you deal with it? To protect the others?"

I knew what she meant. Would I kill her to save the flock? No. I could never hurt Max. Even if she ended up as a freaking whitecoat, I could never hate her. And I wouldn't kill her if she was an Eraser. But I'd take her away, keep her somewhere where she couldn't hurt anyone or herself.

I looked down at my feet and thought about how to answer. I knew what she meant, and she knew that I knew. But what if she misunderstood what I said? I could promise her without _actually _promising her.

I looked up and met her eyes. "Yes," I whispered. "I'll do what has to be done." There, I could keep that promise. But I hoped I'd never have to put it to the test.

She breathed a sigh of relief and I felt sort of bad for lying to her. Well, not lying, just not telling the whole truth.

"Thank you," she said, giving me a small smile. Some of the color had returned to her face and her eyes looked less frantic.

I squeezed her shoulders and then drew my arm back, standing up. "You'll be okay," I said, leaning down slightly. I kissed her forehead softly, like I'd seen her do with Angel or Gazzy a million times. But I couldn't help but notice the way my lips tingled slightly as I drew back. "I promise," I whispered.

Then I left, thinking about that last promise. I had made it to myself a long time ago, but now she knew.

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**Alright I know I promised 2,000 words, but I just felt I couldn't add any more without ruining the chapter. So I decided that I'll just add chapter 31 today too. Hope you guys liked the chapter!**

**Iggy's: -clear throats-**

**Me: -sigh- Fine, go ahead.**

**Iggy: Hey.**

**Iggy II: Yo.**

**Me: That it?**

**Iggy: Ya, we're good.**

**Me: -sigh-  
**

**Review?  
**


	31. Interesting

**I**—

**Max: -crashes through window- Iggy! I'm**— **uh, why are there two of you.**

**Iggy II: Hey, I'm Iggy II. **

**Max: Um, okay. Anyways. Iggy! I'm here to rescue you!**

**Iggy: But Ma-ax. Sam's about to post the new chapter! -pouts-**

**Max: So? Come on Iggy. Iggy? Iggy get your butt back here! What is wrong with you!? This is madness!  
**

**Madness? This, is, A DISCLAIMER!: If you recognize it, it isn't mine.**

**Max: What was that?**

**Me: The disclaimer. And now, chapter!**

**Max: No, wait**—

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**Fang POV**

After I talked to Max I decided to go for a little fly. I wasn't expecting it to help but at least now I could worry in piece.

I shot through the sky as fast as I could, wings beating hard but quietly. I was aiming for a lake we had driven by on our way to Anne's. I had only noted it as a landmark, so when it came into view I was able to really look at it.

It was about half a mile in diameter and almost perfectly round. The north side was against a steep cliff with the road on top of that. The beach directly below the road had a group of people on it. Most of them were in the water, but a few were laying on beach towels and looking up at the sky.

I climbed high into the air until I couldn't be seen by the people down below and circled back to the other side of the lake. I found a smaller beach that was far enough away from the road to not be seen, but so that I could still see it. I angled downward and started to spiral.

I landed on the beach and immediately layed down. It had been more then two weeks since the whole hospital thing, but my side still gave me problems if I pushed the flying too much.

I looked back on all the crazy stuff that had happened today. Which was a lot.

I hadn't left right after talking to Max. I had stuck around for lunch at which point she was doing a lot better. We also decided to tell them about the failed attempt to find their parents. They seemed okay with it, but the picture seemed to freak them out a bit.

When we showed it to them, Gazzy and Angel didn't seem to understand. Nudge thought the baby looked familiar and described it to Iggy. He somehow took 'it's blond with a cowlick' and got a mental image of Gazzy.

"Heh, sound like Gazzer back when _he _was a baby," he had said.

"There's a reason for that," I muttered.

We told them that it was Gazzy and they all seemed pretty shocked. Angel asked if she could see it and spent the next half an hour with Gazzy, just looking at their mom. She looked a lot like Angel, but older.

Then Nudge had taken the papers and run off to her room. I was guessing that she wanted to give breaking the code another try. In fact, everyone did. The picture had given them all some motivation, let's just hope it's not for nothing.

So after that I had taken off, telling Max I would be back in a few hours.

I had been staring off into space as I thought, but my mind snapped back to reality when I recognized Anne's car zoom by on the road. I shot into a sitting position and looked closer at the car that was going in and out of view. It sure _looked_ like Anne's car. Hmm...interesting.

I took off and flew towards the road. I followed the car from a safe distance for another ten or so miles, it eventually pulled into the parking lot of a large, flat building. Hmm... _very_ interesting.

I landed and watched as Anne got out of the car and went to the front door of the building. A large, balding man answered the door. He said something to her and she looked around, like she was making sure no one was looking. She then turned back and handed him what looked like a file.

Okay, this was getting weird. I wondered if maybe this was an FBI building and she was just handing in paper work. But why would she do it at the front door, and where we all the other agents? After a few more exchanged words Anne nodded and went back to the car. She pulled out of the parking lot but I didn't follow, I wanted to know what this place was.

I walked around the perimeter and peeked into windows. No one was in any of the rooms and I didn't see anyone in the hallways. But the rooms are what surprised me the most. They looked like classrooms. Like, at a school. With teachers and students and homework.

After seeing all I could from the outside I checked my watch. Crap, I'd been gone for about three and a half hours. Max probably thought I'd been shot or something. Even though that was more her thing.

I took to the air again and headed back to Anne's. Before it got out of view, I looked back and saw a sign at the entrance of the parking lot.

North Cove Private School.

Now, _that _was interesting.

* * *

**Dun dun dunnn.**

**Max: Okay, there. She posted the chapter. Now Iggy, lets _go._**

**Iggy II: But, he can come and visit right...?**

**Max: No.**

**Me: Hey, wait a second. -pulls note from pocket- Max II wrote, and I quote 'Max owed me. From, Max II.' Doesn't that mean that you _sent _him here?**

**Max: Uh... I**—

**Me: Wait! No! Don't explain! Not yet!**

**Max: Why?**

**Me: Builds suspense. Get's me reviews.**

**Max: Oh, okay.**

**Review? (Unless you _want_ Iggy and Max to disappear with no explanation...)  
**


	32. Kill Gazzy Later

**Alrighty! Now, before I move on with the story I want to tell you that the whole Fang-knows-about-the-school thing will be explained... as soon as I come up with an explanation. :D**

**Max: So let me get this straight, you take my book, and write what Fang was thinking.**

**Me: Yep.**

**Max: But how do you know?**

**Iggy: Didn't you hear her? She just makes it up as she goes.**

**Me: Ya, pretty much. So without further ado, onto the improvisation!**

**Disclaimer: I would say I owned Maximum Ride if it weren't for a small issue. That issue being that I don't own it.**

**

* * *

**

**Fang POV**

God, I hate computers. I really do. What's the point? They just act superior to you and then one wrong click and they practically blow up.

You're probably wondering why I'm bashing computers. Well there's a simple answer. Unfortunately, it comes at the end of a long story...

When I had arrived back home after following Anne, I went up to her office and planned to snatch her laptop so I could do some research. But when I walked in I saw that her desk looked just like it had yesterday, but the computer was missing.

I immediately thought that she had found out I had been checking her files and had hidden it. But when would she have had the time? She had to have left the house about the same time as I had to make it to the school when she did. And before that she had been around at least one member of the Flock. Maybe she'd hidden it before I got back.

So I decided to snoop around a bit. There weren't any hidden doorways or compartments in any of the walls or desk so I went down the hall to her room. Okay, now what? Do I just go in or do I knock? If I knocked she might not let me in. But if I didn't and I just barged in then she would be mad and would kick me out. And if she wasn't in the room there was always the chance of her coming in when I was looking through her stuff. Man, there was no way in...

She was smarter then I thought.

I was just raising my hand to knock when Anne came around the corner of the hall and saw me.

"Nick?" she asked. No, it's Morgan Freeman.

"Yeah?" I asked back.

"What are you doing up here? I thought you were outside with the others." She was speaking calmly but it also seemed like she was interrogating me.

"Nope," I said simply. Then I got a brilliant idea. I knew _exactly _how to get the computer in a highly stealthy way that she'd never find suspicious.

"Where's your computer?" I know, I'm a genius.

She smiled and pointed behind her toward the stairs that lead to the first floor. "Max has it. She's with the others, down by the pond."

Max. I should have known.

I nodded and started to head towards the stairs, but she gently grabbed my arm as I walked by. It took all my self control not to rip her arm off.

"Where were you?" she asked, only a little of her suspicion sneaking into her voice.

"Nap. You?" Ah, the glory of one word sentences.

"I was at the store," she answered immediately, almost a little _too_ quickly.

"Hm," I nodded and went down the stairs. When I passed through the kitchen I noticed that there were a few plastic bags from the local grocery store on the counters. Ohhhh...she's good.

I entered the living room right as the Flock walked in the front door.

"Hey Fang!" Angel exclaimed happily. She skipped over to me and gave we a big hug around the waist. Okaaaay.

"Yeah," Gazzy said in an evil voice, "hi Fang," he started walking towards me, his arms opened wide. This would have been weird anyways, but it was even worse because he was soaking wet.

"Don't," I warned, trying to get out of Angel's death grip that had me stuck in place.

"Yeah, Gaz. Don't wanna ruin his hair," Iggy mocked, leaning casually against the door.

Gazzy slowly wrapped his arms around me and Angel let go, giggling. "Ew, Gazzy," she said. "You smell like a frog."

"Even better," he said as he squeezed. Damn! This kid is strong!

He finally let go, but not before shaking out his sopping wet hair right in my face. The entire flock burst out laughing.

"Ha. Ha. Ha," I said between gritted teeth. Breathe Fang. Get computer now. Kill Gazzy later.

The Gasman noticed the murderous look in my eyes and ran out of the room, laughing like a mad man. I then looked at Angel and smiled evilly. Her smile dissapeared.

"Hey yourself," I said as I walked towards her. She screamed bloody murder but it was too late. I cornered her and picked her up. When she was covered in pond water too, I put her down and she glared daggers at me.

"Haha! That was awesome!" Total said, falling over with laughter. I looked at him disbelievingly.

"He talks," Max said simply. Wow, didn't see that coming. So now I had another reason to regret letting Angel have a dog. Which was also another reason fro Max to yell at me for letting Angel have a dog.

"Computer," I demanded, holding out my hand.

Max was still laughing slightly and I glared, but she gave me the computer all the same.

I then went upstairs and locked myself in my room. I logged onto the internet and started searching for links about North Cove Private School. Problem was, there weren't any. There was North Cove _Elementary_ School in Marion North Carolina, but not a Private School in Virginia. I searched for Private Schools in the area but didn't come up with anything that helped. It was like it didn't exist.

Which leads to my earlier rant about the evil that was the internet and any technology that allows you access to it. There was nothing, nada, zilch. I might as well be typing nonsense words.

So I repeat, I _hate_ computers.

There was a knock on my door and I rubbed my eyes with her heals of my hands. I looked over at the clock at saw that it was about midnight. Who would be up right now? Oh, yeah. I was.

Max peeked her head in without waiting for a response. Typical, just typical.

"Get some pants on, we're going for a fly," she said and then shut the door.

"Of coarse your majesty," I mumbled as I pulled on a pair of jeans.

"I heard that," she called from right outside the door.

I walked into the hall and saw Max and Iggy standing there.

"What's up?" I asked.

"None of us could sleep, so we're going out," Max said as we all crept past Anne's room. AKA the place they should hide WMD's, that place is so secure. **( Not that they have any problem hiding them already ;) )**

We met up with the younger kids outside. As soon as Gazzy saw me he took off. Little twerp...

We soared through the air for a good three hours. I was practicing some of the tricks we'd picked up with the hawks. The kids seemed to be really enjoying it. Not just the flying, but also the fact that when we we got back to Anne's we'd all have our own rooms and warm beds and a fridge full of food for a big midnight snacks. Everyone seemed over all happy.

Well, almost everyone. I noticed how Max seemed to be flying on autopilot. Her lips were moving soundlessly too, like she was singing along to music. But I knew it wasn't a song stuck in Max's head, it was a voice.

Her face got a little confused but then the look disappeared. She coasted for a few seconds, still seeming in her own little world.

That is until Nudge shouted, "Look, bats!"

* * *

**Max: Wow, that actually sounded like Fang.**

**Invisible People: -clapping- -cheering- Amazing! That was awesome! We love you!**

**Me: -bows- -waves- Thank you, thank you! -points to fans- Not as much as I love you!**

**Iggy II: This is where we back away slowly.**

**Iggy's and Max: -back away slowly-**

**RnR? (My sanity depends on it... :P)  
**


	33. Tag, Superman Style

**Okay, I'll say it. Last chapter sucked. Even though the only review so far for it said it was great I know a sucky chapter when I see it, and that was a crap. So now, I will attempt to give you a better one before I pass out from exhaustion.**

**Iggy II: It's 10:30.**

**Iggy: Yes, but doing nothing all day really takes it out of you.**

**Max: Iggy! Don't be mean! Say your sorry.**

**Iggy's: Sorry Sam.**

**Me: -sticks out tongue-  
**

**Disclaimer: I may not own Maximum Ride, but I do own the cookies that she's eating right now - Max holds up circular baked good of awesomeness-

* * *

**

**Fang POV**

I looked up and saw a huge cloud of black swarming against the sky. Hundreds of little bats fluttered around in a giant, moving funnel. They nearly blocked out the moon that they were flying in front of. In fact, with the streams of white peaking through the gaps in the crowds, it almost looked like a scene from one of those old black and white vampire movies. I was half expecting a wolf to appear and start howling.

"Hey, they're mammals, like we are," Max called to the kids from somewhere below. I looked down and saw that she had snapped back into reality. She was watching the bats go around in large, increasing arks; a look of awe on her face.

"My ears hurt," Total whined from Iggy's arms. It was so weird, we had all just sort of accepted him as a talking dog without much question. I thought that was little weird. I mean, he was a _talking dog._ That's sort of weird. But then again, so were we. Maybe we were just better at getting over stuff.

Iggy started explaining about how the bats were using echolocation and then old Total to basically can it. Gazzy was trying in vein to penetrate the black mass and get to the center.

I watched as the girls got into position where there wing tips were touching. Then they swooped in a circle again and again, looking like a big feathers wheel. Max was keeping the pace slow sense it was hard to turn quickly with wings.

Then Gazzy dive bombed them and hit Nudge on the back. "You're it!" he shouted and then took off. Nudge laughed and poked Angel, indicating that she was it now, and then sped off in the opposite direction of Gazzy.

I swung into another steep climb and then free fell for a few seconds, catching myself before I got too close to the ground. I was still watching the younger kids though.

Angel flew stealthily above Max. But I stopped paying attention to her when I saw Max's face. She had turned bright red and I could hear her heavy breathing from where I was hovering another hundred feet above. She reached up to touch her face and panic entered her eyes.

Angel must not have noticed because she reached down to tag Max between the wings, but before she could Max was gone.

Completely, and totally _gone_. One moment she had been there, and then she had disappeared. I raked the ground with my raptor vision, thinking that she had had a brain attack and was falling.

"Where'd she go?" I asked no one in particular.

"Fang?" Angel called to me in a confused voice, "Look."

She pointed to the left of the group of bats and I saw what I thought was just another one flying separate from the rest. But when I squinted I saw that is was farther away, _way_ farther.

It was Max.

"What?" Iggy asked, looking around like he always did when he didn't understand what was happening.

"Angel was going to tag Max but then Max got this really weird look on her face and then when Angel almost touched her she, like, flew away really fast. I already can't see her, and she left, like, what? Twenty seconds ago?" Nudge rambled in an excited voice. She must have been thinking that this was all just some cool new game.

But I had seen Max's face, she was freaked. She almost looked like she had the earlier when she had her little episode. I was really tempted to go after her, but I had no idea where she'd gone. Like Nudge had said, one minute she was there, the next she wasn't.

We waited for about ten minutes for her to get back, but she still wasn't here. Where the hell was she?

Finally we saw a small speck appear on the horizon. As it came closer I could see it was Max. And guess what? She was laughing. _Laughing._ Like this was all some really funny joke.

When she coasted up to us we just sort of stared. She looked happy, no, _ecstatic._ She didn't look at all panicked like before, and her face wasn't flushed and she wasn't anxiously looking at her hands or feeling her face. She was back to normal Max. Well, sorta. Gazzy was the first to point out the obvious.

"You have warp drive," he said, looking at her in wonder.

"I want to ride with _you._" Total said as he squirmed in Iggy's arms.

She laughed some more and flew closer to Ig. With her arms held out to him, Total jumped. He even licked her neck, which made her make a face of disgust.

"What was that, Max?" Angel asked, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

"I think I just developed a new skill," she said, ginning hugely.

Well then, today had _not_ turned out like I thought it would.

* * *

**I think that was better. I really don't like the next few chapters in the book. They're really boring. And**— **Hey! Where are you two going?**

**Max: Um... nowhere?**

**Me: Iggy? You wouldn't leave me would you?**

**Iggy: Well...**

**Me: Jammie Bears! Get them!  
**

**Jammie: -ties up Max and Iggy-**

**Me: Good bear. Now, you two stay hear till you can be good like Jammies and Iggy II. **

**Both: -gulp-  
**

**RnR? (Or...uh, something will happen... -spooky music- -lightning flashes-)  
**


	34. Pancake?

**I've decided to let Max and Iggy have some time to think about what they did.**

**Iggy II: She locked them in the closet so she didn't have to hear them complain.**

**Me: You make you sound so heartless.**

**Iggy II: Roll a turd in sprinkles, it's still a turd.**

**Me: ... Um, okay then. After that insightful little nugget, I think it's time to move on with the chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Do I _look_ like a small, balding man with no motive to live anymore? Nope. And I don't look like James Patterson either :) **

**In this chapter in the book Ari is beating the crap out of a bunch of Erasers with a stick. So I'm just making this up. Hope you like.**

* * *

**Fang POV**

Do you know what's awesome? Sleep. Especially after you stay up all night Googling and then go for a three hour fly where your best friend learns she has hyper drive. After all that, sleep is just _really _nice.

And do you know what sucks? Getting woken up only two hours into a well deserved nap by an obnoxious FBI agent. Yeah, you think your parents are bad? Try living with Anne.

I was just lying in bed, not dreaming, just sleeping. And then Anne barges in, causing the door to bounce off the wall with a noise that had a striking resemblance to a gun shot. And sense I hear more guns going off then doors opening, I shot up in bed, only to be blinded by Anne opened up the curtains, letting in a million WATS of sunlight.

"Morning," she said in that rainbows and sunshine voice that should not be usable at any time before noon.

"Ugh," I mumbled as I threw the covers back over my head. That shelter lasted me about two seconds. Anne grabbed the covers and yanked them off the bed, easily pulling me with them.

"What that hell!?" I exclaimed when my head hit the floor with a loud thud. I sat up and rubbed my the back of my head.

"What the hell was that?" Max said in a panicked voice as she ran into the room.

"Max, Nick, language," Anne said. She laid the sheets and comforter back over the bed. She even did hospital corners.

"Fine. Nicholas, what on Earth was humongous banging noise?" Max said in her best innocent voice.

"That, dearest sister," I said back, putting as much sincerity into my voice as possible, "was my head hitting the floor."

Anne rolled her eyes at us and then went to the door. "You two get ready. I'll go get the kids. I have a surprise for you all," she called as she made her way down the hall.

Max glared daggers at where Anne had been standing a second ago.

"Why sister," I said in the same voice as earlier, "you aren't _jealous _of Anne are you?"

She turned her glare on me, obviously irritated. Perfect. I smirked at her and she just growled.

"So what do you think this 'surprise' is going to be?" Max asked as she helped my up. My head had already stopped throbbing but I was still pissed at Anne.

"Probably a root canal or something," I guessed as I changed my shirt. Max went over to my desk where I had left the laptop last night. She opened up the browser and went to History.

"What's North Cove?" she asked as I pulled on a pair of black shorts. It wasn't exactly hot out, but it was pretty darn sunny.

"Toy store," I lied smoothly.

Max gave me a look. "Toy store?" she asked incredulously.

"Kids haven't had a birthday in a while. Thought I'd check out some prices," I said. Wow, that actually sounded believable. But then again, Max can read me as well as Angel, if not better.

"Uh-huh, sure," she said. She sent me one last weird look and then logged off the computer. "I'm gonna go get Nudge up. I'd like to see the mere mortal that could get her to wake up."

"'K," I replied. I don't know why I didn't tell Max about the school. It was probably just that I didn't want her to worry. This could all just be some big misunderstanding for all I knew, so I decided not to give her another reason to hate this place.

She nodded and left the room. _Yes,_ I thought. _Now I can sleep._

I crawled under the covers and closed my eyes. But I too alert, I couldn't sleep now.

"Damn you Anne," I mumbled as I got out of bed and made my way downstairs. Iggy had two frying pans on the stove, both overflowing with scrambled eggs.

"Hey," he called, not even looking up. How did he _do_ that?

I just sat at the table and waited for the others. Gazzy eventually came down the stairs, his hair going in every direction and his blue eyes closed.

"Ow," he said sleepily as he trip over a chair leg and fell on the tile floor. Then, "Ah...this feels nice." Within thirty seconds he was actually snoring. Unbelievable.

"Morning!" Angel said as she ran into the kitchen, already fully dressed. Total was trotting at her heals. He stopped when he saw Gazzy on the floor.

"You finally snapped, huh?" he said looking up at me.

"You're next," I said calmly as I took a sip of a soda that had been sitting on the table.

Angel giggled as she picked up Total and sat him in her lap. Iggy brought the platters of food he'd made and set them on the table. "Bon appetite," he said and gave a little bow before sitting down.

We all ate in quiet (except for Gazzy's snores) until there was a loud whistle from upstairs, followed by a shriek and a thud. We just sort of stared at the ceiling for a moment, listening.

"Nudge's up," Max said simply as she walked into the kitchen. She was wearing her trade mark jeans and t-shirt. The only change was that these were both clean and had no holes in them. Max immediately notice Gazzy and gave me an accusatory look. I gave her a why-do-all-think-I-want-to-kill-him kind of look and she just rolled her eyes.

"Morning, Gaz," she said as she sat down.

"Mmmph," he mumbled and then resumed snoring.

"That wasn't ni— ahhhhh!" Nudge shouted as she walked into the room. She had started out glaring at Max but ended up tripping over the Gasman, who gave a slight grunt in response.

Anne decided to walk in at that very moment and stopped dead at the scene before her. Total eating off of his own plate, me and Iggy with foot high stacks of pancakes and eggs, Max teasing Nudge, Nudge yelling at Max, and Gazzy falling back to sleep.

"Hey!" she shouted to get our attention. This of coarse doesn't even work when Max does it. So she was left there just gaping at us.

Max noticed her standing there and cleared her throat loudly. Nudge sat down, Total hopped onto the floor, and Gazzy _finally_ woke up. I just sat there, watching in amusement. Gotta love these kids.

Anne just stood there looking at us in disbelief. Iggy broke the silence by holding out his plate that was piled high with food. "Pancake?" he asked.

There was a moment of silence and then the Flock burst out laughing, all the grumpiness from a second ago was completely gone.

Anne recovered herself enough to sit down in the spot between Iggy and Gazzy.

"So," Max said, between a mouthful of toast and sausage, "what's this 'surprise'?"

"Well," Anne said, drawing out the word in a way I knew would push Max's buttons. "I was thinking that we could all go to the movies today."

"Oh, can we see Transformers? I hear it's supposed to have awesome graphics," Iggy said sarcasticly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Jeff," Anne said apologetically. "I totally forgot."

"Really? Did ya now?" he muttered under his breath so only those with enhanced hearing could hear him.

"Maybe we could walk around town afterward?" Max suggested, trying to bring peace.

Iggy thought for a second and then just shrugged. Max sighed and I saw her send Angel a meaningful glance. Then Angel looked at Iggy who brightened up right away.

"You know what, a walk in town sounds great," he then proceeded to inhale what was left of his food.

_What'd she promise him? _I thought, hoping Angel would hear. She did.

**Max said they had a hardware store in town. We'll go there and he's allowed to make _one_ bomb,** she explained. Max letting Iggy make a bomb? Man, this place must really be getting her. She was acting nice.

Angel must have told her what I'd thought 'cause Max kicked my shin under the table. Ow.

The rest of breakfast went by without incident and before we knew it we were all piling into Anne's van and going up her driveway.

May the fun begin.

* * *

**I liked that one. It was short and cute.**

**Max and Iggy in the closet: Can we come out now!?**

**Me: Hmm...only if you agree to let Jammies follow you around to make sure you don't ecape.**

**Jammies: -evil doll smile-**

**Max and Iggy: ...Naw, we're good.**

**Review(s)? (Or Jammie Bears will get you... O.o)  
**


	35. Is She Messin' With Me?

**Me: -sniffle-**

**Iggy II: God, you're not gonna cry are you?**

**Jammies: -whacks with baseball bat-**

**Iggy II: Ow! Um, I mean, do you want to talk about it?**

**Me: -crying- They escaped! I mean left! I can't believe they left! -runs away-**

**Iggy II: -crying- Why didn't they take me with them!? -runs away-**

**Jammies: ...**

**Disclaimer (while sulking): I don't own anything, okay!? Maybe if I did Max and Iggy would have stayed... But I don't, so they...they... THEY LEFT! -runs away...again-

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**

**Fang POV (I'm not gonna have time to go through and revise, so don't be surprised by the many errors there are sure to be)  
**

"She spent $60 bucks for this?" Max whispered to me about five minutes into the movie.

"You forgot tax," I said back. It was true, Anne had spent a ton of money on tickets for some movie that I hated from the opening credits. I don't know why but I hate alien movies. They just bug me. "And food," I added, shoving a fist full of popcorn into my mouth for effaces.

"Right." She took a big slurp of her extra large coke, which was the same size as a medium popcorn. "Gimme," she said as she grabbed the giant bucket out of my lap. It was about a foot high and eight inches wide. And we'd bought six of 'em. **(That's actually what the serving sizes look like at my local movie theater)**

I wasn't really watching the movie, it wasn't that exciting so far. The lead guy was just talking to his girlfriend and was refusing to break up with her. Jeez, obsessive much.

About five minutes later I got bored and looked around. Hm, dark, warm, Max on watch. This would be a nice place to nap...

I leaned back in the comfy chair I was in and closed my eyes. God, it was loud though. I needed something to focus on. I decided on Nudge's whispered descriptions of the movie to my first choice, but hey, it's something.

"...and now she's putting her stuff down. And now she'd taking off her pants. Wow, her legs are really tan. I wish I had nice legs like that," she was saying. My eyes shot open to see the main character's girlfriend standing in what had a second ago been her shirt, but was now a ver, very short dress.

Iggy leaned over and whispered, "She's not just messing with me is she?"

"Nope." I tried to speak as quietly as possible, but she still heard.

"You guys are disgusting," Max said, sitting as far away from us as her seat would allow.

"I was just making sure she wasn't joking," Iggy defended himself. "Fang's the one who's staring."

My eyes widened slightly at this. Was I staring? And if so, how the hell did he know. "Am not," I muttered, feeling the slightest bit of heat creeping up my neck.

"Suuure. I may be blind but I ain't dumb," Iggy said before going back to listening to Nudge. I hate him. I really, truthfully hate.

"Pigs," Max muttered but stopped trying to crawl over her armrest into the empty seat beside her. We were sitting with Max on one end of our row, then me, then Ig, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Anne.

"Hey, buddy," someone called from behind me. I turned around to see a guy in his thirties glaring at me. "If your argue with your girlfriend," he looked at Max, "then do it when the movies not goin'. Alright?"

Okay, now I blushed. Did the world just hate me today?

"Well that was weird," Max said, seeming unfazed by the comment. What is with me? I'm Mr. No Emotions. Now I was turning into Mr. Blush At The Slightest Mention Of Max.

Which is definitely not good.

The rest of the movie was okay. I never did get my nap, but at least the plot was interesting. And Iggy had been right, the CGI was awesome. When it finely finished and the credits started rolling, Max jumped out of her seat and started hearding us towards the exit. She hated crowded places with lots of noise. And this, was both.

"Ugh," she moaned as we made it through the front doors of the theater. Angel and Gazzy ran forward, pointing and the fancier cars in the lot and shouting, "Dicepticon!" Nudge went into more detail about the fight scene for Iggy and Anne just walked along in the middle of the group, looking for her car among the endless rows of vihicles.

"Crap," Max muttered beside me. We had fallen behind the rest of the group at this point, and I turned to see her looking disappointingly at her soda. "It's empty," she said.

"Here," I held out my soda for her. She grabbed the straw and pulled it towards her, taking a long drink.

"Ah..." she said when she was done and smiled up at me. "Thanks."

I just nodded, not really knowing why her smiling made me feel awkward.

I heard a giggle up a head and glanced to see Nudge and Angel looking at us. When they saw that I had noticed they ran off to where Anne had found her car, laughing the whole way.

"Hey," Max said, trying to get my attention. "I was thinking that even thought the first addresses didn't work out, that maybe we could give the rest a try. I mean we found the picture at the second place, I couldn't hurt to look."

I thought for a second. The kids would probably want to come this time, and if we didn't find anything...well, there'd be a bit more emotion then when it was just me and Max checking things out. But she was right, it couldn't hurt.

"Okay," I said as we approached Anne's car. "Tonight."

"Tonight."

That night we were all standing in the living room, ready to leave.

Well, almost. Total was insisting on coming with us and wouldn't stop jumping into Max's arms. She had resolved to just not catching him, which he didn't seem to mind. He just hit the floor, stood up, and jumped again.

"Total?" she said in a voice that the others would find calm and sweet, but that I saw as inpatient and annoyed, "Maybe it would be better if you stayed home. You know, maybe guard the house or something."

Total just stared at her a moment, it was sort of creepy how human his body language was. "That is so condescending," he said in an angry tone. That's right, the dog was talking in an angry tone. Now tell me that's not weird.

We squatted down beside him and wrapped her arms around his furry stomach. "She just meant because, you know, you're so fierce and stuff, and have great hearing and those big teeth," she said soothingly.

I saw Max trying not to role her eyes. "Yeah—not just because you're a dog or anything," she mumbled.

Total sat down and looked defiantly up at her. "I want to go with," he said with as much stubbornness as I think any dog has ever used to go for a walk (or in this case fly).

I smirked at Max and her obvious irritation. She just glared back.

"Fine," she said between her teeth. Total leaped into her arms and liked her cheek from chin to temple. I almost laughed at the look of pure disgust on her face.

We were airborn a few minutes later and were soaring high above ground, to the point that the trees all sort of blended together.

"So, Angel?" I heard Max say as I checked the papers I had gotten back from Nudge. I found the next address and my stomach did a little flip. It was the one right by my name. If this worked out...well, I'll cross that very far away, fairytale bridge to never land when we get there.

"Anything off?" I heard Max interrogating Angel. Probably about Anne. Max's suspicions of her haven't gone down sense the day we got here.

"From what I can tell," Angel was saying, "she does work fo the FBI. She does care about us and wants us to be happy. She thinks the boys are slobs."

I nearly felt affended. If anything my room was as tidy if not _cleaner_ then Nudge's or Angel's. And Max? That floor hasn't been visible for well over a week.

"I'm _blind,_" Iggy said irritably. "How am I supposed to make everything all tidy?"

"Yeah, because your so handicapped," Max said and continued to rip Iggy's excuse to shreds. Gazzy was snickering at his comrade's expense.

"Anything else?" Max said, turning her attention back to Angel.

"There is something she isn't telling us," she said and my internal alarms went off. Did it have something to do with that school? If it _was_ indeed a school. Was it not just a school but a _School_?

"Like what?" Max asked. "Is she going to hand us over to the whitecoats?"

Great minds think alike.

"I'm not even sure she knows what whitecoats are." She sounded confused and frustrated, I could tell she didn't like being able to know _exactly_ what someone was thinking. "I don't know that it's something bad. It could be, like—she's going to take us to the circus or something."

Circus, great. "Wouldn't that be redundant?" I muttered.

Max went on to tell us to keep our guards up and not to get too comfortable. I then realized just how long we'd been with Anne. I was just waiting for Max give us the signal to leave, staying in one place was never a good idea for us.

I was pulling out the address book that I had borrowed from Anne indefinitely, when I heard Total say, "I'm chilly."

I looked up to see Max glare and Angel smile.

"You're wearing a fur coat," she pointed out.

"It's chilly up here."

Max set her jaw and shifted him to her other arm. I was expecting her to drop him (please, please, please) but was surprised when she unzipped her coat. She held Total against her chest and zipped it back up. Me and the other guys were trying hard not to laugh (and failing), but she just ignored us.

Total's head popped out the top of her jacket and this cause another round of laughter from the younger kids. "Much better," he said happily.

I looked back down at the book and noticed that we were flying right over where the first place was. "Yo—first address is down there," i called over the roar of the wind and pointed to a clump of trees we could land in. Okay, this was it.

"Showtime."

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**-sniffle- Okay. I hope you liked it. Oh, and if anyone see's Max and Iggy flying over their houses, feeling free to shoot them with rubber bands.**

**Iggy: At least you still have me! :D**

**Me: -grins- AW! Thank you Iggy II! You made me happy! -bear hugs Iggy II-**

**Iggy II: -to Jammies- Aren't you gonna help? **

**Jammies: -evil grin- -leaves- -locks door-**

**Iggy II: Nooooo!!!**

**Review? Each review gets me another step away from my Emo Corner...**

**P.S. I'm only _5 _reviews away from 200. If you can get it to 205, then I'll post tomorrow. I have an essay I have to finish tomorrow and will only put if off if I can get those reviews. (200th and 205th reviewers get special mention in next chapter!)  
**


	36. Sad

**Okay, I am so so so so **_**so**_** sorry I didn't post today. Well, when you read this I will have not posted yesterday, but whatever. The internet connection when down because of a huge storm we're having, so I'm just typing this up on word and I'll try posting it tomorrow before school. Or, today, I guess. **

**Iggy II: You're being confusing.**

**Me: Like I can help it! I'm trying to apologize to people tomorrow while it's still today!**

**Iggy II: So...your talking to people from the future...in the past.**

**Me: Exactly! Finally! Someone who gets it!**

**Iggy II: Just start the chapter. **

**Me: Ay ay captain! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything and have no time to be clever so DEAL!**

**Fang POV**

Max and I landed first in the group of trees I had seen from the air. We stayed low, waiting. But no one jumped out of the shadows or tried attacking us, so we deemed it safe.

Max whistled softly, just loud enough for Iggy to hear. He signaled for the others to follow him and we watched them land softly on the top branches of the surrounding trees.

I looked back down at the map, even though I had the address memorized. I wasn't usually one for emotion (duh) but right now I felt like my stomach was doing cartwheels and it was getting hard to hold the feeling of hope that was building in my chest.

"Should be across the street. To our left," I said in my usual stoic voice, making sure to keep my face void of my rising nervousness.

"Alright," Max said, standing up out of her crouching position as the others jumped out of the trees and landed silently on the soft grass. "Here we go."

We moved through the trees until we were just at the edge of the woods, hiding in the shadows.

Now, let me tell you something. I had only ever felt really, truly sad, about, eh, three times in my life.

The first time was when they brought Iggy back blind. In fact, we had all been depressed for a good three months after that. Iggy had been pretty much defenseless before, but when he wasn't able to see...well, it just wasn't good.

The second time, was when Jeb left. He had been like my dad. No, he _was_ my dad. And then we find out that he wasn't dead like we'd thought he'd been for the last two years. Oh no, instead, he went back to the School and became exactly what he told us he wasn't. A whitecoat, a monster, evil.

And then there was this moment, right here, as I stood across the street from what should have been a little one story Victorian with a white picket fence. But is that what I was seeing? No, that would of meant that I would be happy, and we all know that the universe is strictly against me being happy.

So instead of that perfect house with some big tough dad and a kind, loving mom, I got a barber shop. That's right, a barber shop. As in a place where you go to get your hair cut for three bucks.

"Maybe her dad was a barber?" Nudge suggested in a comforting voice that made me double check my expression. Yep, still rock solid. But I still couldn't help grinding my teeth slightly at the fact that _Nudge_ had to comfort me. That's just not how it works around here, not if I have anything to say about it.

Max, who had been standing right next to me, leaned in close and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Her voice sounded sad it truly sympathetic. But I was still surprised by the look in her eyes that I saw when I met her gaze. Her golden, brown eyes were filled with a bunch of emotions I didn't feel like interpreting. But they still surprised me.

So for a second, one second, I let my guard down. I let her see how bad I felt about not finding my parents, about how stupid I felt for coming up with this god awful plan in the first place.

I saw surprise flash in her brown irises and instantly shut down all emotion. "No big," I said in what I hoped was a calm voice. "Didn't think it would add up to anything anyway. It's probably more wasting of our time, but should we check out this last one?"

"Yes," Iggy said solidly. I was really hoping that he would say no, that we could leave and not have to risk having someone else get hurt.

"Okay," I said, "let's go."

I jumped into the air and went as high and as fast as I could, the cold hair hitting my face was helping to clear my mind.

I shouldn't be upset, I should have expected this. I had told the flock my suspicions about my really family along time ago.

It was about a week or so after Jeb brought us to the house in Colorado. We had all been talking about what our parents would be like when we found them. Nusge said that her's were going to be famous and rich. That way she could have a big house and we could all come to stay with her.

Then Iggy said that he would be perfectly fine with parents that could just except him, blind mutant and all.

Angel and Gazzy had been too young to really give it much thought, but Gazzy was able to say that he wanted a dog. Not an Eraser type dog, but like Lacy of Whin Dixie.

Max said she wanted a nice mom and dad. And that was all she was really willing to say.

Then it was my turn, like I knew it would be. So I just said what I thought my parents would be like, not what I wanted them to be. I came up with some long story about how my mom got pregnant as a teen and put me up for adoption. I added some stuff too, like how she wouldn't know who my dad was and how she'd probably be a druggie or something.

By the end of my little emo fest, Angel crawled into my lap and Nudge gave me a big hug. Gazzy said he was sorry and Ig just sat there looking sad. But Max had the strangest reaction, she just sat there looking at me, not seeming to believe me. It was like she knew I was making it all up.

But here we are, four years later, and they all believe every word of what I said. And I did too, even though I knew it was all a lie. But at least it made it easier to accept that I hadn't found what I was looking for here.

**It's okay Fang,** Angel suddenly popped into my head. I looked behind me to see her and the rest of the Flock following me to the next place.

**It's okay,** she repeated. **If you want, you can come and stay with me and Max if you want.**

I raised an eyebrow at her, confused.

**I don't want to meet my parents, the Flock is family enough. So I'm just gonna stay with Max. Do you want me to ask her if you can stay with us?**

I gave her a half smile and she brightened, happy that she was helping.

_That's okay Ange,_ I responded. _Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. I'll come and visit you guys though._

She smiled and nodded at me, then returned to a conversation with Nudge.

But what she said finally hit me. What would we do if we found our real parents? Would we actually split up the Flock and live with them? Or would Max keep us together, like she had our entire lives.

I was really confused right then about how I would feel if the Flock split, and I was still a little upset about not finding my mom and dad.

But one thing I did know. If the kids wanted to stay with their parents, and it was just Max, Angel, and me, then I would definitely take her up on her offer.

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**Okay, again, sorry. I'll post another chapter in like an hour or something. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!  
**

**Modern A/N: Okay, couldn't post this morning, so I'm doing it now during lunch.**


	37. Mushy Gushy EMOtions

**Alrighty then, it was pointed out to me earlier that I update more then most authors. So I shouldn't freak if I miss a day, right? Wrong. I have very bad (fake) OCD. And if I don't do something that I usually do everyday, then I get a very (fake) case of ADD. So I'll be like, "Well...I didn't post yesterday, but I posted the day before that. They can wait another day..." And then that day becomes a week becomes a year becomes a**—

**Jammies: -hits with baseball bat-**

**Iggy II: Thank you! She hasn't shut up sense she got home.**

**Jammies: -hides body- -starts typing chapter-**

**Iggy II: Good idea, you spell better anyways.

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**

**Fang POV**

When we got to the second address, we didn't even have to land to know it was another bust. We were flying over the parking lot of a big strip mall, only a few cars were in the parking lot sense it was so late.

"Are we there?" Iggy asked when we all stopped abruptly. No one want to tell him what was down there.

"Uh..." I looked to Max for help but she looked like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. That makes two of us. "Let me check," I muttered as I double checked the coordinates. Damn. They matched.

I looked at Max and she instantly read the defeat in my eyes. "Ya Ig," she whispered, "we're here."

Iggy didn't seem to notice her tone, he just headed straight for the ground, Gazzy following closely to make sure that he landed right.

"What are we gonna do?" Nudge started jabbering. "We can't just tell him it's a mall! I mean, I would be perfect fine with my house being a mall, but Iggy? The only way he wouldn't be upset is if it was, like, Bombs 'R' Us."

Max gave her a _look_ and she shut her mouth. With one last glance to one another, we landed next to Iggy and the Gasman.

There silence for a minute. Iggy just looked back and forth, trying to listen to echos to get his barrings.

"This front yards sorta hard," he said stomping him foot a few times.

"It's...it's not a yard Ig," Max said.

"Oh, the street then? And a big one at that. My echo goes on forever," he turned towards the small shop we were standing across the lot from. It was a little Asian food store.

"Iggy?" Nudge said hesitantly, then she went up to him and took his hand in a comforting way. "It's a mall, Iggy."

Her sentence seemed to bounce off the store fronts and come back at us. And with Iggy's hearing I knew it must have been a hundred times worse.

"Are there apartments on top of the stores?" he asked finally, his blind gaze scanning about where the roofs were on the buildings.

"No," Max whispered, not daring to meet his eyes when they were turned on her.

"What's across the street?" he asked, sounding almost desperate.

"A used-car lot. I'm sorry Ig." Okay, I couldn't take this anymore.

"It's my fault guys," I said in a rushed voice. I wasn't exactly a fan of mushy, gushy emotions. "I'd thought I'd cracked the code, but obviously I was totally off my gourd." **(what the hell is a gourd?)**

"Well, if you were wrong, then we don't have to be disappointed, right?" Nudge spoke up. "It just means we still don't know." I wasn't sure if it were me or the others she was trying to comfort, either way, I was thankful.

"Yeah, that's right, Nudge," Max said, but one glance at Iggy showed that he was far beyond being comforted.

"This sucks!" Iggy shouted. He turned and drove his fist into a nearby telephone pole, the wood splintering into and around his hand. He winced and I noticed that his knuckles had steady streams of blood coming out of them.

"I'm sorry, Ig—," Max couldn't even finish before Iggy cut in.

"I don't care it you're sorry!" he yelled at her, probably not meaning to but ending up shouting right in Max's face. "Everyone's sorry! That doesn't matter! What matters is that we find where we belong!" He stomped a few feet away, then turned around and started yelling again, "I mean, I can't take this anymore! I need some answers! We can't just keep on wandering from place to place, always on the run, always hunted...." he got chocked up and couldn't finish. I was sincerely chocked, Iggy was probably tougher then I was. He had to deal with so much more then the rest of us, so it short of scared me to see the little tears that were snaking down his face.

Max started towards him and held out her arms slightly, but he pushed her away roughly.

That got her going. "We _all_ want answers, Iggy," she said in an almost angry voice. "We all feel lost sometimes. It's just-- we have to stick together. We won't stop looking for your parents, I swear." Her voice had softened a bit by the end, but it sounded solid enough to make her sound serious.

"It's different for you," Iggy said more quietly this time, his voice sounding bitter. "You don't know what it's like. Yeah, I make jokes, I'm the blind kid-- but don't you see? Every time we move on, I'm lost all over again. You guys, probably not meaning to but ending up yelling right in Max's 's so much easier for you. Even your lost isn't as bad as _my_ lost, you know?"

The Gasman came and stood next to his partner in crime. He looked really young and scared, "We're your eyes," he said. "You don't need to see when you've got us."

"Yeah, but I won't always _have_ you!" Iggy said, raising his voice again. "What happens if you get killed? Of coarse I need to see, you idiot!" Gazzy flinched at that and stumbled over to where I was. I put a hand on his shoulder, trying to communicate that it was his fault, Iggy was just upset. "I _remember _seeing!" Iggy continued. "I know what it's like! I don't have it anymore, and I won't ever have it again. And someday I'm going to lose you, lose all of you—and when that happens, I'll lose...myself." The last word was spoken so softly that I could barely hear him.

I could feel Gazzy's shoulders shaking under my hand. Nudge and Angel had tear tracks going down their cheeks too. And I saw the shock flash on their little faces when Iggy suddenly picked up a large chunk of asphalt and hurled it at a store window. The glass shattered into a bunch of razor sharp pieces and clanked noisily against the ground. To make it even worse, an alarm went off.

"Uh-oh," Iggy said, his anger suddenly pushed aside.

"Let's split," I said, seeing as Max was in too much shock to do much leading right now. The younger kids took off and hovered a few hundred feet up. Total jumped into Max's arms and she zipped him into his jacket as she started get momentum for take off.

"No," Iggy said, making me and Max skid to a stop like they do in cartoons.

"What? Come on, Iggy. The alarms going off," Max said in a panicked voice.

"I know. I'm not _deaf_ too," he said bitterly. "I don't care. Let them find me, take me now. It doesn't matter. Nothing matters." Then he actually _sat on the curb_. He was giving up, just like that. All because he couldn't find two people that we weren't even sure existed.

Sirens started up a few blocks away and suddenly my anger got the best of me. "Iggy," I said in my most demanding voice, "let's _go, _get _up._"

"Give me one good reason," he said defiantly. I was about to knock him out and start dragging him away, but Max threw me Total and I was momentarily distracted.

I met her eyes and I saw that what she was thinking. We needed to get the kids out of here, and I knew that Max would do what it would take to get Iggy to come with us. Willingly or otherwise. So I shot into the air, my anger and frustration towards Iggy making me overshoot the rest of the flock and have to turn around to meet up with them.

They had all hovering just close enough to Max and Iggy to hear them. I concentrated and was able to pick up some of Max's speech.

"...people trying to kill us all the time.

"But if you think I'm going to let you give up on us now, you've got another think coming. Yes, you're a blind mutant freak, but you're _my_ blind mutant freak, and you're coming with me, _now_, you're coming with _us _right _now_, or I swear I'll kick your skinny white ass from here to the middle of next week."

Iggy actually raised his head out of his hands. I held my breathe and so did the others. The cops were _so_ close...

"Iggy, I _need_ you," Max said urgently. "I _love_ you. I need _all_ of you, all five of you, to feel whole myself. Now get up, before I kill you."

"Well, when you put it that way..." Iggy trailed off as he stood up.

Max grabbed his hand they jumped into the air to join the rest of us. As we headed back to Anne's house, Max flew with her wings touching Iggy's on every stroke.

"Hey Fang?" Angel asked, gliding up to me.

"Hm?" I said, keeping an eye on Iggy to make sure he didn't go all emo on us again.

"Can Iggy stay with us too?" she asked, referring to her offer from earlier.

I smiled at her, "Of coarse."

* * *

**Jammies: -looks expectantly at Iggy II-**

**Iggy II: Good. That was quite descriptive for a mute.**

**Me: -stumbles into room- Ugh, my head is killing me. But Ig is right, it was good. Hey, why didn't you make Fang get jealous about the whole "Oh, Iggy I love you, I _need _you," thing?**

**Jammies: -shrugs-**

**Iggy II: He's like the teddy bear equivalent of Fang**

**Me: Nice. And -gasp- you forgot the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. I don't own Albert the Albertross either, I'm just borrowing him.**

**Review?  
**


	38. Suspicious Pies

**The weirdest things happened today**. **First I set myself on fire in science class and when I got home my dad showed my the new fire extinguisher he'd bought (coincidence? I think not). **

**Then, in science class (ya, I've noticed the pattern, shut up) I saw all these glass vases on the counter and the _first thing_ I thought was "wow, I really want to throw a rock at that". So I'm sitting there thinking about the shattering sound it would make when my teacher says, "And today you'll also be working with these fine 'Ancient Drinking Vessels'. [Sam], don't brake." Ya, creepy, right? I think he might be Angel in disguise... Sad thing is I did break one. Not directly of coarse, I just spilled water on the _cement_ floor making a kid slip and making his vase smash.  
**

**And the last weird thing is my school bus disappeared. We were waiting for an hour and eventually the principle came and said that they couldn't find our bus driver or bus. So if anyone hears about a bus running into a ditch with a bus driver named Debbie, message me, 'kay?**

**Iggy II: Don't forget that your teacher threw you a party.**

**Me: Oh yeah! I exceeded standards on the WASL (a really important test in Washington) and my 7th grade teacher tracked down everyone who exceeded standards to through us a party. It was awesome!**

**Iggy II: And here I was, sitting all by my lonesome, not a single fire, exploding vase, or missing bus drivers to entertain me...**

**Me: Oh...well sucks for you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. But I do own the many applause I'll get for my _amazing_ explanation of why Fang never told anyone about the school.

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**

**Fang POV**

To tell her, or not to tell her, that is the question. I still didn't know if I should Max about the North Cove Private School. I was starting to lean towards doing so, mostly because Anne had snuck off there again today. I had followed her again, telling the others I was just going for a fly, and watched as she pulled into the same parking lot as the last time.

But this time was different. It had been the same guy who came to the front doors, but this time Anne handed a _check_. A big one too. The numbers had said $450. Now I was really suspicious.

This time there were no words exchanged, just the transfering of the check and then Anne left. Strange.

So now I was sitting with my back ramrod straight at Anne's dinner table, waiting for her to take her knife and lunge at one of us.

Max walked into the room and I tried to send her a look that said, keep-an-eye-on-her-or-she'll-stab-you-with-her-fondue-fork. But Max's eyes instead of locking with mine zoomed in on the food on the table.

"What is _this,_" she asked in a voice that made it obvious she wasn't being rude. But she still tried to make up for it. "I mean— looks good. Smells good." She sat down and examined the steaming pile of green on one side of her plate. "Is that broccoli? Yum," she said and took a big bite of it.

I picked up Iggy's and started shoveling food onto it. I had been keeping an eye on him since last night. He seemed to be doing fine though. He and Gazzy had even blown up a bunch of rotten apples that had been ignored by Angel And nudge when they picked some earlier today (not that Max knew). He said he was saving them from "dealing with the rejection". Yep, he was doing just fine.

"Thanks for making dinner, Anne," max said, putting an _oh_ so sincere smile on her face.

"Uh-huh," she said back, not believing it for a second. "At least I made a lot of it. I'm learning."

"It's fine," Max said, trying to play nice. "'S great."

Once Iggy's plate was overflowing with whatever it was Anne had made, I set it down in front of him and tapped my finger next to his fork. He picked it up and started to shove the food into his mouth.

I turned to my plate and sighed. It wouldn't be the _best _thing I'd ever eaten, but it was food, and I was hungry. And after all the years of dumpster diving I've learned to not care what I was eating, but _that_ I was eating.

After about a half an hour we had all had seconds were stuffed. I guess the others have learned to hold back to gag reflex too. We all just sat there, feeling well fed and comfortable.

But my suspicion came back full blast when Anne brought out the pie. Yep, a pie. If that doesn't just scream, "I'm here to kill you," then I don't know what did.

"I _love _apple pie!" Nudge exclaimed when the semi spicy smell reached out noses. See? She already had them all eating out of her evil, pie making, hands.

"Do you have two of them?" Gazzy asked, obviously not thinking about how they could be poisoned.

And of coarse had to pull out another one and set it before us all. "I told you," she said, "I'm learning."

Gazzy punched the air, "Yes!"

"I'd like to talk to you guys," Anne said conversationally. Okay, here it comes, this is where she tells us that the pie's gonna give us brain tumors or something. "Sort of a family meeting."

My eyes flashed to Max and I saw her jaw clench, obviously not like the idea of Anne thinking of herself as part of the family. At least I knew I wasn't the only one not under her spell.

"You've all done beautifully here," she said as the younger kids dug into their dessert. "You've adjusted better then I thought possible. And I find I'm enjoying it more than I ever imagined."

Okay, in the movies this was either where she said she wanted to adopt us and we all lived happily ever after, or she exploded to revile a deranged alien and started sucking our brains out with colorful bendy straws.

I saw Angel look at me like I was crazy but just ignored her. _It could happen..._

"I think we're ready to take the next step,"she continued. I saw panicked flash into Max's eyes. This probably not a good time to tell her that Anne was possible working for the School.

"So I've enrolled you in school."

...

...

Oh.

...

I was planning on demanding if she was fricking insane but instead burst out laughing, probably scaring the crap out of the kids. "Whoa, you had us going there for a minute," I said finally. I couldn't believe it. I had been getting paranoid about a _pie _and in the end it turns out she wants us to go to school. God, I'm an idiot.

"I'm not kidding, Nick," she said seriously. "There's an excellent school nearby. It would be perfectly safe. You could meet other people your own age, interact with them. And—let's face it: Your education has been spotty at best."

Spotty? Try nonexistent.

"School?" Nudge asked. "You mean, like, at a _school_?"

I really do hate that word.

"Going to a real school, with other people?" Angel asked, looking concerned.

"Holy frijoles," Total mutter from under the table. I gave him a slight kick and he yelped.

"You'll start on Monday," Anne said in a better-then-thou sort of way that I hated. "I'll pick up you uniforms tomorrow."

Uniforms? My God, what fresh hell is this?

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**Woot! School! Okay, just 'cause I know someones gonna ask, I'll say it now. FANG MEETS LISSA IN 6 CHAPTERS. **

**Iggy II: What, are you gonna do a countdown or something?**

**Me: Iggy! That's a great idea! -runs of to make days-until board-**

**Iggy II: Me and my big mouth...**

**Reviews?**

**FANG/LISSA COUNTDOWN: 6 CHAPTERS **

**And special thanks to googlefish (my Husky loving comrade) and Maddy for telling what a gourd was. Also a thanks to XxAngelWithWingsxX (my 200th reviewer) and mimimi213 (my 205th reviewer). I forgot to mention them earlier like I said I would. And thanks to everyone else who's reviewed! You all rock!  
**


	39. I'm Losing Her

**Have you ever noticed how Shakira sings like a billy goat? At least she does in hips don't lie.**

**Iggy II: Why is it that you can notice the strangest things but can't remember your homework assignments?**

**Me: It's Friday, that stuffs not due for three days. I'll remember... eventually.**

**Disclaimer: I nothing mentioned in this chapter. Except of coarse Jammie Bears who makes a surprise appearence in this chapter.**

**Jammies: -smiles and waves-**

**Iggy II: And how do you plan on doing that?**

**Me: Don't know yet, but I'll think of something.

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**

**Fang POV (Word count of 3,324 and it took me over five ours (counting breaks) to write. SO ENJOY IT!!)  
**

As soon as Anne left the dinning room with our empty plates Max dropped her polite facade. She stood abruptly and strode towards the living room. We all watched as she went around the corner and then heard the front door slam a few seconds later.

We just sat there. We all knew that Max didn't like being told to do, especially by adults. So when her only reaction was to run off (which wasn't really that uncommon but usually followed after she yells at said annoyance) we were sort of shocked. Not a single insult, now that was weird.

After another minute or so of just staring, we heard Anne coming back into the room.

"Nose goes," Iggy said. Everyone but me put an index finger to their nose. I just looked at them like they were crazy.

"Where's Max?" Anne asked in a confused voice as she came into view.

"Nick," the Flock all said at once. I was startled by it and so was Anne.

"Nick?" she asked.

"Nick," Iggy said.

"What'd I do?" I asked indignantly.

"Oh like you don't know," Nudge said in an angry voice as she got up and left the room. Angel followed close behind with Total at her heals.

"I...," I honestly didn't know what to say. That had just come out of nowhere.

I looked to Iggy for an explanation and as if he knew I was looking at him, held up his hands. "You're on your on own dude," he said then left. That just left me and Anne.

Anne stared blankly after them for a second, but then her expression changed into one of anger and impatience.

"What'd you do?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"What did I—," I stopped myself, finally realizing what was going on. Oh they were soooo going to get it...

I sighed, really hating this. "I'm sorry," I muttered, glaring down at the table, imagining it bursting into flames.

"Don't say sorry to me," she said. "Say sorry to Max."

"But I—," she cut me off.

"No buts, Nick." She turned to leave.

"I—,"

"No, Nick," she said not looking back.

"A—,"

"Nick!" she shouted at me, and I shut up.

When she left I was all by myself sitting at the table.

"I hate my name," I grumbled as I stood up and marched up stairs.

I went straight to Iggy's room, knowing that they would be there. I went right in without even knocking.

"Nick!" They all shouted in a surprise-party sort of way.

"I hate you all," I said and left the room. Their laughter followed me all the way to my room.

**(For those of you who've never fallen victim to Nose Goes, it's what you say when you don't want to do something. The last person to touch their nose has to do whatever the unwanted activity is.)**

I sat down on my bed and thought things over. I should probably go look for Max. I was about to get up but then remembered her new power. Sje could be hours away by now. And knowing her she probably wouldn't be back for a while.

"Hey, Fang?" Angel asked, sticking her head into the room a few minutes later.

"Hm," I responded, I had been trying to get some sleep and just wanted her to leave.

Of coarse, her being a mind reader and all, she heard me. Angel ran across the room and jumped onto the bed. She jumped up and down, something on her making a jingling noise.

"Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang, Fang—." I couldn't take it anymore.

"What!?" I exclaimed.

She jumped one last time, barely skimming the ceiling with her gold curls. She landed on my stomach, her feet hanging off the bed.

"Off!" Man, she was heavy.

"Can you get Gazzy to take a bath?" she said getting right in my face. "Please?" she added when she heard the denial starting in my head.

"Angel, n— what is that?" I asked noticing the white bear in her hands.

"Oh! This is Jammie Bears! I found him in one of the hall closets. He has a friend, Jingle Dragons!" she held out the bear and a little green dragon so they were pressed against my forehead, their little black eyes staring into mine. She shook them up and down and they started to jingle.

"So Fang," she said, "Can you?"

"Only if I never see these damn toys ever again," I said.

"Yay!" she shouted and jumped off the bed, pulling me with her. "And no swearing," she scolded as she dragged me down the hall to the bathroom. There I found a struggling Gazzy and a very irritated looking Iggy.

"Stop...squirming!" Iggy grunted as Gaz kicked out at him.

I sighed, today was not my day.

Iggy's jeans and gray t-shirt were nearly soaked through, but Gazzy seemed to be perfectly dry in nothing but his boxers.

"Let go!" he shouted. There was a knock on the door and I turned my head to see that Angel had left and shut it. And locked it.

"Everything okay in there?" Anne called.

"They're fine," I heard Angel say, and then two pairs of feet going down the hall.

"So," Total said from his spot on the edge of the tub. "How do plan on doing this?" He eyed the ever struggling Gazzy and the tired looking Iggy.

"Like this," I said. I sent all my suspicion of Anne, annoyance at Max for running off, and need for revenge on Gazzy into grabbing his by his arms and holding him still.

I literally _threw_ him into the bath, a huge wave coming up and splashing us all. Total yelped as he fell in; his small, black head popping out of the water and glaring at me.

"Nice going, _Nick,_" he said. I just shoved his head back under.

"What the hell Fang!?" Gazzy yelled, looking in horror at the soap bubbles floated around him.

"No swearing Gazzy," I told him, not really caring. I just grabbed a towel and unlocked the door, leaving Iggy to do the rest.

As I walked down the hall I rubbed the the towel against my wet hair. _At least now I can relax... _I thought as I made my way back to my room.

Now, I wish I could tell you that I went back to my room, changed my clothes, and then went to sleep.

But no. That couldn't be how it actually turned out. Because this is me we're talking about, remember?

"No Angel," I heard Nudge say as I walked past her room. I stuck my head in to see what was going on and I saw Nudge sitting on her bed, a book in her hands, glaring at Angel.

"But you've already read that book. And I want to hear you read another one," Angel said, standing by Nudge's bed.

"Well if you don't like the book then don't listen to my thoughts," Nudges said, she then went back to reading her book. Angel glared, but then got an evil look on her face.

"Hey Nudge?" she asked in a sad voice. So Nudge, thinking she'd hurt Ange's feeling looked up.

They looked at each other for a moment. Angel looking concentrated, and Nudge looking confused. Then Nudge set down her book and picked up another one, she looked away from Angel and started reading.

"Perfect," Angel said, and turned to leave the room.

And to run straight into me.

"Angel," I said in a warning tone.

"Hehe. Oh, hey Fang...." she looked up at me nervously and waited for my reaction.

"Bed. Now." I said. I didn't have the patients to plan out a big lecture about how she couldn't control peoples minds, and blah blah blah.

"Okay," she said happily, obviously reading my thoughts, and skipped off down the hall.

I stood there and looked in at Nudge. She was looking at her book like she didn't know what it was. Then she looked at the book on her bed. Then back again. She shook her head and switch them out. "Weird," she whispered to herself.

Okay, Gazzy's clean, Angel's going to bed (I hoped), Nudge is reading the book of her choice, and Iggy can do whatever the hell he wants to.

I went to my room and shut the door. Once I'd changed out of my sopping wet clothes and changed into some cleaner ones, I crawled into bed.

Where I was unable to get to sleep. Figures. The one night I choose to go to sleep at a decent hour, and it's the night I have insomnia. Perfect.

So instead I waited. And waited. And waited some more. But eventually I heard it, the soft beating of wings off in the distance. I stepped away from the open hall window i had been waiting by, and went down the hall to the bathroom. The floor was still a little damp from Gazzy's bath, but I was able to grab a glass of water without falling down.

I got back to the window just in time to see Max climb through it.

"Hey," I said from behind her. She jumped a bit, hitting her head on the top of the window because she hadn't come all the way in yet.

"Hey yourself," she said once she was all the way inside with the window closed.

I held out the water and she smiled her thanks. It was gone in about three gulps. Wow, should have gotten a bigger glass.

"Gone along time," I commented. "How far did you get? Botswana?" I was trying to make it sound like a joke, but I really was sort of curious.

She grinned wryly. "Just for a second, before I had to turn around. They say hi."

"How fast do you think you go?"

"Over two hundred," she guessed. Wow, impressive. "Two twenty? Two forty?"

I nodded, taking it all in. I wanted to ask her if she was feeling any better, but I wasn't really the let's-talk-about-our-emotions type. And besides, I could tell by the look in her eyes that the flying had taken off most of her stress.

"Everything cool here?" she asked and I almost laughed. My evening had been anything _but_ cool.

"Yeah," I said. "Wrangled Gazzy into a bath," Literally. "Total fell in. Angel made Nudge change her mind about what book to read, and I came down on her." Ya, "Bed. Now." You really showed her Fang...

"Sounds like you've got everything under control," she said. We had made it to her room and she was kicking off her shows. Her clock said it was half past one.

"I managed," I said. But then I saw the look of sadness pass over her face and regretted my cavalier attitude.

I was starting to worry about Max. I knew that she'd do whatever it took to keep us safe. But what if this was what kept us from harm? Staying at Anne's house. Would she let us stay to make us happy too?

Then a disturbing thought hit me. I had thought about it a little bit before, but now I was starting to see it as a growing possibility. What if Max left? I mean the look on her face was evidence enough that she thought people were taking her place as the Flock's mother figure.

Man, I had been so stupid letting her go out flying. What if she'd just kept going? Past Botswana, to some little island in the middle of nowhere. What if she hadn't come back and I was left raising the Flock.

No. Max wouldn't leave. She loved the kids too much. She loved m—the kids...ya...the kids...

I sat down next to her on the bed, looking down at my hands. "Did you want to just keep going?" I found myself asking. "Keep going and not come back?" I really needed to hear her say it. Come on, Max. Just say no...

She drew in a shaky breathe, not looking at me. "Yes," she breathed and I felt my heart skip a beat.

She wanted to leave.

She didn't want to come back.

I was losing her.

I had a sudden urge to hug her. Just hold her and show her that if anything, at least _I_ wanted her here. Instead I just sat on my hands and said, "Anne's just a—depot. We can rest, eat, hang out, while we plan our next move. The kids know that. Yeah, they like not having to run or sleep in subway tunnels. They like having the same bed every night. So do I. So do you. Anne's been nice to them, to us, and they like it. We don't get a lot of down days, where we can just chill. They're enjoying the heck out of this, Max. And if they weren't, it would mean they are so messed up they couldn't be saved, ever."

"I know," she whispered, and I tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear. Now I could see her profile, and I was shocked to see there were tears in her eyes.

"But they know who's saved their bacon too many times to count. Who's fed them and clothed them and chased away the nightmares. Jeb may have gotten us out of our cages, but _you're _the one who's _kept_ us out, Max."

We sat there in silence for a second and I held my breathe. Max brought her hand up to cover her mouth, and I prayed to every deity in the book that she wouldn't cry. I hated it when she cried. 'Cause when Max cries, you know something bad's going on.

I put my arm around her shoulders, and when she didn't pull away I squeezed her shoulder gently.

"Thank you," she whispered as she laid her head on my shoulder.

I smiled slightly, and I felt some of the tension slowly creep out of her shoulders. I could tell she was tired. And so was I. But yet neither one of us pulled away.

"I'm sleepy," she said, and cuddled into my side.

"Then go to sleep," I whispered against her hair.

"Okay." And with that she closed her eyes and started to drifted off to sleep. I leaned back so that my back was against the headboard of her bed. Max was laying against my shoulder, her arm lain lazily against my chest.

"Good night, Max," I whispered.

"'G night, Fang," she said back.

I sat there for a few more minutes, thinking. I didn't want to get up, but I knew I should. I wanted nothing more then to fall asleep like this. But Max would be back to her normal self by morning, and me staying the night in her room is not something that Max would like.

Or at least that's what I told myself to make me get up.

I moved her slowly so that she had her head resting on her pillow. I then pulled her top cover up and around her shoulders. She curled into the blanket slightly and it made her look so young.

I knelt down until I was at eye level with her. I brought my hand up and gently pushed the hair out of her face. She nuzzled my hand a little and I smiled.

Then, without thinking, I leaned forward and kissed her. Not on the lips or anything, but on the temple. It was meant to be a comforting gesture, like the last time I had kissed her forehead. But also like last time, my lips tingled at the contact. So I kept them there, pressed lightly against her head. I breathed in the smell of her hair, and it was light and fresh, with a permanent undertone of pine, from all the months of sleeping in trees.

I then straightened up and went to the door. I kept the image of her sleeping form in my head as I lay down to go to bed. I didn't know what was happening between us. I was being so much more open with Max, thinking about Max so much more often. It was always about Max.

And I liked it that way.

"Good Night, Max," I whispered, and then fell asleep.

* * *

**And that my friends, is Fax.**

**Okay, maybe not _Fax,_ but is sure as hell ain't Max and Fang being all BFF-y. **

**Iggy II: -pretending to gag-**

**Me: Jammies!**

**Iggy II: -ducks under baseball bat- Haha! Missed!**

**Jingle Dragons: -hits with _wiffleball_ bat-**

**Iggy II: Where are they all coming from!?**

**Review? **

**FANG/LISSA COUNTDOWN: 5 CHAPTERS (and if you review enough I'll even add the never before read BONUS chapter from School's Out**—** Forever, where Lissa dies! :D)**

**Also, got my favorite review EVER today! It was from .Poet. It said, "So I originally read "North Cove Private School" as "North Cove Pirate School". It was an interesting twist while it lasted, lol. But I'm glad that the Flock aren't turning Pirate on us. Can you imagine what Iggy and Gazzy'd do with highly combustible rum?"**

**You my friend, just made my day.  
**


	40. Is It Real?

**YAY! Thank you for all the reviews! And yes samzeman, it was you who lent me Albert the Albertross. And my suggestion for your whole "Angel II" situation is that you throw her into the nearest loony bin and run. One Angel is hell enough.  
I think it's funny how most of the reviews I got were about my favorite review, but oh well, the others were really nice and have inspired me to get out of bed before noon to start writing a new chapter!**

**Iggy II: -snores-**

**Me: But as you can see Iggy II was not as inspired. I'll wake him up later though, for now, CHAPTER!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, nor do I own the lovely image of Fang belly dancing, that one belongs to Maddy.  


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**Fang POV**

"Fang."

...

"Fa-ang."

...

"FANG!"

I shot up in bed, startled out of a nice deep sleep by someone shouting my name. I tried to open my eyes but was blinded by the light. I kept them closed for a few seconds, letting them adjust a bit. When I opened them I scowled at the silhouette standing by the window.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty," Max said, smiling at me. She'd seemed a lot more relaxed sense the last time we'd talked.

"Mmmgph," I mumbled and got back underneath the covers. "Go away, Max."

"Not today, bub. You've got to get up at a normal hour," she through the blankets off the bed, and this time I had the sense not to hang on.

"Why?" I asked, sitting up and glaring at her.

She grinned widely and threw something at my head. "'Cause today's the first day of school, silly!"

I pulled the white thing off my head and looked at it.

And nearly barfed.

It was a shirt.

A _white _shirt.

In my size.

With my name written on the tag.

"Lovely, isn't it?" Max asked as she went over to my desk and picked up another beige colored object. The held it up so I could see it. They were a pair of trousers. Yes, trousers, as in what British people wear. **(No offense British people. You know I love you!)**

"What's all this crap for?" I asked, a little disturbed by the pale colors.

"It's your school uniform," she said and threw the pants to me. "Get ready, Iggy's making breakfast."

School? Oh, _school._ I had completely forgotten. Or at least I had refused to think about it. Man, if I had known I would have to wear this stuff, I would've never agreed to it.

"Oh and Fang?" Max said, turning around in the doorway. She grinned evilly, "Here's your tie." She tossed the long piece of fabric and it landed limply on the edge of the bed. It was blue with a beige and black plaid design. Plaid, my mortal enemy.

I looked up and Max, who was still in the doorway, and gave her a you've-got-to-be-kidding-me look.

She just smiled and left the room. I could already tell today wasn't gonna be good.

After I changed into my﻿ —grr— _uniform_, I went down stairs.

"Hey, man. Soaps on," Iggy greeted as I came down the stairs. He was wearing the same beige pants and white dress shirt as I was, hit tie hanging undone around his shoulders.

I just nodded in responce.

"Is he wearing it?" he asked, turning to Max, who was trying not laugh. "He's wearing it isn't he?" He had an excited look on his face.

"Yep," Max said, not daring to meet my glare.

"Ah, I would give anything to see the glare on his— OW!" My fist slammed into his shoulder and he rubbed it gently, like the delicate little girl he was.

"Ass," he mumbled.

"Boys," Max said in her "Mom" voice. "No fighting."

We both grumbled apologies that we obviously didn't mean.

I sat down at the table and cracked open the coke I'd gotten from the fridge. I looked over at Max and noticed she was just wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

"What?" I asked. "No plaid mini skirt?"

"You wish," she said, and I felt heat creep up my neck. What the hell? No! Stop that! I command you not to blush!

"I just haven't changed yet," she explained.

The three of us just stood there for a few minutes, the only noise being the bacon sizzling away on the stove.

"Morn—," Gazzy stopped dead as he walked into the kitchen. His eyes got wide and he gape at me. Then he looked suspicious and walked cautiously over to me. When he was a few feet away he teached out his arm and poked me. He looked over at Max and said, "Is it real?"

"I don't know, maybe you should poke him again, just to make sure."

He turned towards me but pulled his hand away when he saw me glaring. "Poke me and die," I said.

He straightened and smiled back at Max. "Yep, it's Fang."

Anne walked in then and for a moment things got real quiet. Things had been sort of tense between her and the Flock, ever sense she told us about the school.

"Mmm, Jeff, breakfast smells wonderful," she said as she walked over to the counter. Iggy went back to cooking and Gazzy sat down at the table next to me, looking longingly at the bacon only a few feet away.

Max and I on the other hand, stayed silent. Yeah, Max was acting less jealous, but she was still suspicious of Anne.

"So, I think you're all going to love the school," Anne started up. Great, more information on the lovely School of Wonders. "They have some very good sports teams that I think you boys would like, and they have a nice art club that you may want to check out Max."

Max just stood there gaping at her. And Gazzy looked like he was about to explode from his suppressed laughter.

Iggy leaned over to Max and whispered, "Can you call a girl a sexist pig?"

"Not usually. But for this I'll make an exception."

"And they're supposed to have some of the best teachers in the states teaching there. They'll be able to help you with your reading, writing, math, everything." Anne looked at each of us, probably waiting for one of us to say how excited we were. But there was just more silence. Then she looked to Max with a confused expression. "Max, you know the school rules: uniforms only. No street clothes."

Max just sighed and left her spot over by the counter to head up stairs. Anne sighed when Max was all the way gone.

"She is so stubborn sometimes," she said, buttering some of the toast Max had been working on. "She's so pretty, if only she'd put some effort into her looks."

Iggy pretended to barf in the sink and Gazzy had to cover his mouth from doing a spit take.

"What?" Anne asked us. "Max is a very pretty young woman. If she just put on a little mascara and eye liner, maybe even some lipstick, and she'd have a boyfriend in no time."

All the amusement I'd had towards the conversation disappeared at that last comment. I felt almost... almost a little _mad _that she'd said that. I don't know why though... **(God, I hate writing characters as clueless. It just bugs me, you know? 'Cause you're just sitting there going, "You idiot! You feel that way because you love her!!" But don't worry, he'll be head over heals soon enough.)**

"This better?" I heard Max ask from behind me.

I turned my head and actually did a double take. And no, she didn't look like one of those naughty school girls. She just looked like... not Max.

She had on a white dress shirt that wasn't as loose as mine or Iggy's, but more fitted. Her blue plaid skirt (haha, called it) went down to a few inches above her knees, and a pair of white socks were pulled up to her mid calf. She wore a pair of plain black slip ons.

It was very plain but yet very... wow.

"Much better," Anne said, smiling at her. She then left turned to leave the room. "I'm going to go check on some last minute arrangements," she called back to us.

Max looked at me and rolled her eyes, indicating her annoyance. I could only imagine what she'd say if she'd been present for the earlier conversation.

"Can we play hooky?" Iggy muttered as he returned to making breakfast.

"Somehow I suspect they're picky about that," Max said, returning to her toast station (the only job Iggy trusted her with). "I bet they'd call Anne."

"I look like prep school Barbie," Nudge complained as she walking into the kitchen. He hair was straightened and put into a high pony tail. She was wearing a similar outfit to Max's, but she had a blue vest on over her shirt. She looked at Max in horror and I started to wonder if I was the only one (besides Anne) who thought she looked good. "Actually," she said, "_you _look like prep school Barbie. I'm just Barbies _friend_."

Max just glared.

Angel came in a few minutes later, looking as innocent as ever in her miniature version of Max and Nudge's outfits. _Why, you don't look evil at all!_ I sent to her mentally.

**You don't look scary either,** she sent back to me. Man, I needed to find some sort of loop whole in this dress code. And fast.

Total was at her heals, as usual, and he casually jumped onto a chair and started eating as Angel put together her own plate. "Woof!" he said and started snickering.

Max went over to her and set a cup of coffee next to her plate. "Angel?" she said. "No funny business with the teachers, _comprende?_"

Angel just looked up innocently and said, "Gotcha." Max kept watching her, waiting. "I mean," Angel added, taking a casual sip of her coffee, "unless I really have to."

"Angel, please," she said, getting down to her level. "Nothing that makes us stick out or look different. Play by the rules." She stood up and looked at each of us in turn. "That goes for all of us," she said. "Try to blend, people. Don't give anyone ammo to use against us."

Everyone replied with "okays" and "yeahs".

Anne came into the room a while later, she looked surprised to see the others up already. "Goodness—you're all up," she said.

She eyed the finished result of Iggy's cooking: a working buffet line with platters piled high with various foods.

"This beats frozen waffles. Thanks, Jeff. Oh, and Jeff—I meant to tell you. You and nick will be in the same class. It'll help you get your bearings."

Iggy flushed next to me.

"Don't worry," I whispered to him. "It's not like I'm gonna help you or anything."

That got me an elbow to the stomach. But a playful elbow at that.

"Can Total come?" Angel asked. She had been begging Max all weekend to let her sneak Total in her backpack. "No one will notice," she'd said. "And if they do, I'll make them forget."

Anne went over to her and adjusted her collar like Max had been doing all during breakfast.

"Nope," she said.

"I'll be fine," Total whispered to her. "Chase some ducks or something."

"This uniform is so uncool," Nudge piped up, fingering the hem of her skirt.

"I know. Fortunately you'll be surrounded by a whole bunch of other uncool uniforms," Anne said. She frowned, looking at Angel. "Ariel, are you drinking coffee?"

"Uh-huh," Angel said, taking a big gulp. "Getting jump-started for first grade."

Max smiled smugly at Anne's expression and went to put a bowl of coffee in front of Total. He lapped it up happily.

Anne sighed, deciding to drop the topic.

"Okay," she said, putting her mug in the sink. "I'll bring the car around front. Wear jackets—it's chilly this morning."

And you know, it probably wouldn't be good if someone saw your wings or something.

* * *

**Okay, I expected that to be hard because Fang isn't actually in that chapter in the book. What I didn't expect was to be dragged away from my computer half way through typing it and be forced to babysit. But hey, I got to pick up the Maximum Ride manga on the way there, so it was cool.**

**Iggy II: How do I look in the manga?**

**Me: Well, you _original_ looks admittedly hot. Fang on the other hand...well, Fang looks like a girl. **

**Iggy II: Really? Tell me more...**

**Me: Later. Right now I have something important to address. Has anyone been to the _Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel_'s Wiki page lately? Well I just saw the new summary and apparently there's some prick named Dylan who's supposed to be Max's "other half". And this happens in the same book that Fang is predicted to die (my theory on that later).**

**Iggy II: For someone who supposedly isn't obsessed with Fang, you sure talk about him alot.**

**Me: Oh yeah? I bet I can go the rest of the A/N not saying his name.**

**FANG/LISSA COUNTDOWN: 4 CHAPTERS**

**Me: Starting now.**

**Review?  
**


	41. Like a Unicorn and Awesome in Yellow

**Okay, I feel I need explain some things. One: on my computer when you press Ctrl + V it pastes whatever the last thing you copied was. Sometimes it's a funny quote, sometimes a picture of Brad Pitt with no shirt on. But while writing chapter 37, it was the line, "he probably didn't mean to but he yelled right in Max's face." And apparently I press those two buttons more often then you'd think. So I went back and edited it out where it wasn't supposed to be.**

**Two: when Fang comes downstairs and Iggy says, "Soaps on," I actually meant that. Well not at first but I purposefully left it there. I just wanted to see how many of you would assume that Fang and Iggy watch soap operas.**

**Okay, that was a lie. I forgot to edit it out. But you have to admit, for all the people who read this not a lot of you commented on it. You all must be more gullible then I thought...**

**So I guess what I'm getting at is that I will edit as best I can, but there will most likely be a few errors per chapter anyways. I'll try to make them less noticeable from now on. So now that I'm done ranting you may enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Eye don owen maxnimun rid o an off she's frends. (There, that should cover my error quota for this chapter)

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**Fang POV**

Now, I'm guessing most of you have been to school before. So you're used to the whole thing where you ride in a car in new clothes and a lunch box and pulling into the parking lot of the place you'll spend the next few hours in.

Well I've never been to school before. I've been to _the_ School, but not _a_ school. And something tells me that what I learned at the School doesn't apply to the current situation.

So you can imagine my discomfort at being stuck in a little metal box on my way to my first day of school, _ever_.

While wearing white.

"Max?" Nudge said, turning around to talk to Max for the fiftieth time that morning.

"Yeah sweetie?" Max said with only slightly forced patience.

"Do you think the other kids will like me? I mean us? No, wait, I mean me. You guys are older and cooler. And I'm...the Nudge Channel." Nudge had been nervous about today. Yeah, she was talkative, but she was surprisingly shy around other kids.

Max smiled and patted Nudge's hand where it rest on the back of her bench seat.

"You'll do fine," Max said. "Just be yourself. Well, not completely, but you know what I mean."

Nudge nodded and faced forward again.

"Max, is my hair sticking up again?" Gazzy asked a little later. He had tried to comb it down earlier but there was a chunk of hair that stuck up right on the top of his head. Sort of like a unicorn...

"No, you're fine," Max said, running her fingers through troublesome spot.

Gazzy nodded and turned around again. Him and Nudge were sitting in the middle row of seats, while Max, Iggy, and I sat in the back. Angel had manipulated Anne into letting her sit shotgun.

"Max?" Iggy said, turning towards her and giving her a (very fake) worried look. "Do you think people are going to like my shirt?"

Max just looked at him. And looked at him. Finally she spoke.

"Of coarse, Jeff. That color really brings out your eyes."

Iggy's look of worry turned real. "Color? I thought it was white?"

"Was," Max said. "Before I accidentally washed it with some of Ariel's stuff. Now it's got a nice pink tint to it."

Iggy looked mortified. "You lie," he accused.

"Not this time," Max said and I could see the kids shaking with silent laughter.

"Anne!?" Iggy called to her. She looked at him in the rear view mirror. "Did Max die my shirt pink!?"

"Max, you told me it was supposed to look like that," Gazzy said in Anne's voice. Her eyes widened and she swerved a little on the road.

Iggy's mouth dropped open. "It's...pink?" The last word came out as more of a squeak.

"Do you want me to go back to the house so you can change into the purple-ish one?" Gazzy asked. Nudge was biting down on one of her knuckles to keep from laughing.

"Pu—purple?" Iggy asked weakly, running his hands over the hem of his shirt. I had to admit, the look on his face was pretty hilarious.

"Yes, that one got washed with Krystal's things. At least it's not as bad as Nick's." Huh? What was wrong with my shirt? Well, besides the fact that it's white.

"What's wrong with his?" Iggy asked.

"Oh, well I threw his in with the colors on accident and it turned out this bright yellow color. Quite and interesting look really." Gazzy was starting to lose his concentration, his amusement almost breaking through to his voice.

Before Iggy could say anything, Anne cut in. I guess she had finally come out of shock. "That's enough you two. I don't know how you're doing that Zephyr but I want you to stop this instant. That's rude," she said in a scolding voice, but she still seemed dazed by Gazzy's ability. **(Out of context that sentence would make you think of his _other_ ability...)**

"Besides," Gazzy said in a perfect imitation of my voice, "I look awesome in yellow."

Everyone burst out laughing. And I even found myself chuckling, which is as good as you get with me.

After the noise died down, I just watched the scenery go by. We had already passed the lake that I had been at the first day I followed Anne, and were now going down a side road I had seen her take. Yep, we were heading for North Cove. Yippee...

The building came into view a few minutes later. One of the cream colored walls had Ivy growing up the side of it, twisting around the windows and going up to the roof to wrap around the rain gutters. A landscaper must have come out sense the last time I had seen it. There were bushes and flowers place artfully along the walkways. And even a few apple trees had been planted.

It looked friendly, but something about it gave me this chills.

"Okay, kids," Anne said as she pulled into the drop-off line. "They're expecting you. All the paper work is done." She looked back at us and I felt Max shift uncomfortably next to me. The slight bulge in the back of her windbreaker got even smaller. Man, if she pulled her wings in any further then they'd get fused to her back.

"I know it seems scary." Scary? No, it was _creepy._ There's a difference. "But it'll be okay. Please just give it a chance. And I'll have a treat waiting for you at home this afternoon. We clear on how you'll get home?"

We all nodded in response, none of her words of encouragement had really helped calmed any of our nerves. And I could tell from the way Max was sitting on the edge of her seat that she was probably feeling worse.

"It's about a ten minute _walk,_" Anne said. "And here we are." She pulled up to the curb and Gazzy flung open the doors. Him and Nudge jumped out along with Angel. They just stared at the throng of students moving past them and into the school.

Iggy got out next and almost immediately started twitching. All the noise must have been really confusing for him.

"Here," I said, pushing Gazzy in front of him. "You can hold onto Gazzy's alfalfa." **(I _love_ that movie)**

Gaz glared at me as we followed behind the girls. Nudge and Angel were humming the song "We're Off to See The Wizard" under their breath, while doing some weird have skip half drunken walk. Iggy seemed less nervous now that he had someone to follow. And Max was smiling slightly. I even found myself relaxing and enjoying the fresh air.

Maybe today wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

**Oh Fang, you gullible little chimp you!**

**Iggy II: You gonna look over this one for errors?**

**Me: You betcha.**

**Iggy II: Are there still gonna be errors?**

**Me: You betcha.**

**Review?**

**FANG/LISSA COUNTDOWN: 3 CHAPTERS **

**(I don't know why but I love the whole Fang/Lissa thing. Makes the plot so juicy! Not that I wouldn't mind Lissa and Sam having never existed and instead Fang and Max fell for each other in book two, but whatever.)  
**


	42. Richard

**Hey Ig? If I ripped off a mask to reveal James Patterson then do you think I wouldn't have to put a Disclaimer?**

**Iggy II: Uh...sure, why not.**

**Me: Okay. -rips off mask to reveal James Patterson-**

**Iggy II: But it's still you isn't it?**

**JP: ... -sigh- yeah. -takes off JP mask-**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, even with my intricate masks of deception.

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**

**Anne POV (-gasp-)**

Idiots.

That's all I have to say of those misfit _Erasers_. I'd seen a few of them sneaking around the property earlier that morning. I was only too happy to get the kids out of there. If they blew my cover...

"Ma'am?" came a voice from the other line on the phone. I had almost forgotten he was there.

"Yes, Richard, I'm here," I said in my 'business' voice.

"I was wondering if you'd been able to get the files? The one on Experiment 1?" he asked.

I grinned to myself as I pulled the stack of papers out of my brief case. Max should have hidden them better. Now her and her little friends were running around following the false leads I'd left for them. And Nick? It couldn't have been easier to plant the 'coordinates' idea in his head.

"Yes," I replied. "I'm looking at them as we speak."

"Very well. Would you like me to send someone for them or do you prefer to keep them with you?"

"I think I'll keep them here. Those moron guards of yours have done enough already."

There was a choking noise on his end. "Wh—what are you talking about?" Richard asked nervously.

"I'm talking about the three Erasers I had to get rid of this morning. The ones I'm assuming you sent to keep surveillance. The ones I specifically told you _not_ to send." I raised my voice slightly at the end to emphasize what I was saying. Plus these scientists were getting on my last nerve and it was getting hard to keep my cool.

"I have no—," he stopped short of his half-assed excuse.

"You have no what? Guts to admit your mistakes? Spit it out Richard, I'm busy woman."

"W-well, it's just that... well...."

"Say. It," I growled between clenched teeth.

He whispered something that sounded like "Bat Elder".

"I can't here you, Richard."

"Batchelder," he spat out.

Batchelder. Oh I should have guessed. He was the king of the imbeciles they had working at the School. I was surprised no one had fired him yet. I would do it if I had the power. And once my current project was complete, I would have the power. So much so, that there'll be no chance of me having to deal with him ever again.

That is, if I can finish my assignment. Which was becoming increasingly hard with him going behind my back to get projects approved without my knowing.

"And what does he have to do with this?" I asked, even though I had a pretty good idea.

"He-he promised his son that he...," he took a deep breath. "He promised Ari that he could have the girl when things were done."

Anger flashed through my veins and I started seeing red. I nearly snapped my cellphone in half, I was holding it so tight.

"And what makes him think we'll let him have her?" I finally asked.

"He believes that we'll have no need for her after this is all done. That Specimen 23 can take her place."

"Specimen 23 won't live past New Years, much less take Maximum's place. Besides, the entire reason we made her was to kill her. Or am I wrong Richard?"

"No, no that's right. We just—,"

"_We, _Richard?" I cut in. "Who is _we_? Because I know that Jeb and I aren't a we. And if _you _and Jeb are a we then I'm going to have to make some changes to who my personal assistant is."

"What I meant was everyone in general assumed that Specimen 23 had some greater purpose then just to test the other experiments."

"If I wanted her to have a greater purpose, I'd have put that in her case file." I snapped the phone closed and placed it on the desk.

"Stupid doctorates," I mumbled as I sat down in my chair and opened up my email.

I started typing.

**Dear Dr. Batchelder,**

**I am writing to inform you of your new assignment.**

**I want either Experiment 1 or Specimen 23 gone by the end of the month. Both have the capability to do what is needed. I want proof that one of them is gone. And yes, by gone I mean dead. I don't want any mishaps like the last time. Around here, gone does _not_ mean kidnapping them and making them disappear. And I'd prefer it is 23 was to come out on top. She's not nearly as troublesome as Maximum.**

**So yes, Jeb. I guess you could say she _does_ have a greater purpose.**

**Sincerely,**

**The Director**

I sent the message and sat back in my chair. Thanks to Pruitt I would be able to get twice as far in my plans in half the time. And the Flock was still as unsuspecting as ever. Then, once I could get the Max's switched out, my job would be _even_ easier.

I grinned.

This was going to be good.

* * *

**OMGD!**

**Iggy II: D?**

**Me: Oh my, God... dude.**

**Iggy II: You've been hanging out with Perry too much.**

**Me: -sigh- Yes, I know. Soon I'll be wearing soda can tops on string.**

**Iggy II: And yelling random body part in the middle of English.**

**Me: And**—

**Perry: -appears- Ok! They get it! shut up!**

**Me: :)**

**R&R?**

**FANG/LISSA COUNTDOWN: 2 CHAPTERS  
**


	43. I'm Blind, Not Crippled

**Alrighty then. I'm gonna post two chapters today sense this one is so short. So without further ado, chapter!**

**Claiming (nothing): I (don't) own Maximum Ride.

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**

**Fang POV**

Easily accessed escape routes? Check. Breakable windows? As far as I can tell. No Erasers? Not yet.

How's that for a back to school list?

"Gum," I said to Iggy and and he stepped carefully over the glob of pink on the ground. For a private school these kids didn't seem to have too many manners.

Keep that up, and we'll fit right in.

"Zephyr, is it?" A small woman asked once we had entered what I assumed was the office. She had messy blond hair and was wearing a bunch of multicolored necklaces. She introduced herself as Ms. Cuelbar.

"Yeah?" Gazzy said. "That's me."

She smiled. "Zephyr, you're with me," she said and Iggy's hand slipped off of the Gasman's shoulder. "Come along, dear."

Gaz locked eyes with Max and I saw her nod slightly. He turned back to the teacher and walked along side her, not excepting the hand she had offered him.

I saw Max glancing around nervously. I could almost hear her thinking, _Oh, was that an Eraser? No, that was just a mascot. Hm...but that guy over there looks a little old to be a high-schooler_. _And is it just me or does that plant over there look a little hairy..._

**She's paranoid, Fang. Not crazy,** Angel said.

_That could be argued..._

"At least he's not Captain Terror anymore," Max whispered to me.

"Yeah," I said sarcastically, or as sarcastic as I ever sound, "_Zephyr_'s a big improvement."

She smiled slightly and went back to looking around.

"Nick? And Jeff? I'm Mrs. Cheatman," another woman said, coming up to me and Iggy. She had long black hair and lots of freckles. I saw a few of the students give her room as she walked past. Great, we get the scary teacher.

"Welcome to out school," she continued. "Come with me and I'll show you your classroom."

Max tapped Iggy's hand and we reluctantly followed, him holding onto the back of my jacket. As we walked down the hall I tried to look back at the girls but there were too many people in the hall outside the office. Then, just as we turned a corner, I could barely make out Max's worried expression, but then it was gone and replaced with another wall of plaid skirts and dress shirts.

"Here we are," Mrs. Cheatman said. She had stopped in front of a plain wooden door. You could see the chicken wire that was in between the glass plates that made a small window in it. Note to Self: don't try to break through door.

The woman handed me two pieces of paper. One had my name on it and the other had Iggy's. I was guessing these were our schedules.

I just nodded and opened the door. The hallways had slowly emptied as we had walked to the class, so the room we enter already had quite a few students in it. Lucky class hadn't started yet, so the door opening hadn't drawn much attention.

Key word: much.

The front two rows looked up and stared as me and Ig walked in. A little creepy to be honest. I went to the front desk as Iggy waited by the door, pretending to look around the room.

"Oh, hello there," said a large, grandmotherly woman. Why were there no guy teachers at this school? "Are you Nick or Jeff?"

"Nick," I said shortly.

"Pleased to meet you," she said kindly. "I'm Mrs. Kesler. You can call me Mrs. K, though." she smiled sweetly but there was something hidden in her expression. I had a sudden flashback to that Little Red Ridding Hood story, where the wolf dresses up as the grandmother. Only, I wasn't a little girl in red, and if anything she was an Eraser in disguise, not a wolf.

I stood there awkwardly, waiting as the bell rang and the students took their seats. Now everybody was looking at us. I knew that if Max were here then she'd say something clever and sarcastic, but not me. I'm not the engaging-in-unnecessary-conversations type.

"Good morning, class," Mrs. K said. The students all responded with a synchronized, "Hello, Mrs. Kesler."

"Did that look as creepy as it sounded?" Iggy asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"Worse," I said.

"We have two new student s with us today...," the teacher went on to give a long and boring speech about how we would be scared and nervous so everyone should be super nice and then we'd all go play with puppies in a field of rainbow butterflies...

"Nick?" Mrs. K asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I asked shaking my head to clear it of it's rambles. A group of girls actually giggled. I looked at them and they all looked away, blushing.

"You can go sit over... there," she said, looking down at a seating chart and then pointed towards an empty desk two rows away from where Iggy was. When did he get there? "Between Cray and Ana."

I weaved between the desks and made it to my seat, people starring the whole way. When I sat down there was this sort of awkward silence, then...

"I'm blind," Iggy announced.

Everybody looked at him as he casually twirled a pen between his fingers.

"What do you mean you're blind?" one girl asked from the back of the room.

"It means I can't see," Iggy clarified with a straight face.

"How do you get around then?" a guy asked.

"Echolocation."

"Really?" a nerdy looking kid asked.

"No," Iggy said in a 'no duh' kind of way. "I'm blind, not crippled. I get up in the morning and put my pants on one leg at a time, just like everybody else. Except, you know, I do it without looking."

There was complete and total quiet.

"They're all looking at me, huh?" Iggy asked the girl sitting next to him in a loud whisper. She giggled and said, "Yes.". He smiled smugly and he sat back in his chair, already being deemed the Class Clown by the kids around us.

I just sighed._ Good job, Iggy. Way to keep a low profile._

* * *

**Now that that's up, I'm gonna go do my homework. Then I'll post the second one.**

**Iggy II: And I'm going out for a fly so I don't have to deal with her while she writes the next chapter.**

**Me: Because we all know what the next one is...**

**FANG/LISSA COUNTDOWN: NEXT CHAPTER!! (Anyone else throwing an Anti-Lissa party? Just me? Hm...)**

**RnR-ness?  
**


	44. So You Can Suck My Blood?

**It's here!!**

**...**

**Iggy II?**

**...**

**Oh...yeah...oh, well!**

**Disclaimer: If you think I own it then you obviously haven't been paying attention.

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**

**­­­­­­­­­Fang POV**

"Ha! Called it!" The guy sitting next to me said in a whisper shout. I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He wasn't paying attention though.

"I didn't see it," the girl to my left said.

"They're _right there!_" he said, pointing to my arm. I looked down and saw a thin pink line about an inch long on my forearm. I had gotten it when I was at the School and one of the Erasers had bitten down on my arm.

The girl glared and then pulled a ten dollar bill out of her pocket. That's when I noticed that instead of a plaid skirt like everyone else, she was wearing red and black plaid skinny jeans.

"Whatever," she mumbled. She tried to hand the guy the money but I put my hand up to stop her.

"What are you doing?" I asked them. I was whispering because we were supposed to be doing a writing assignment.

"I bet her ten bucks that you were emo," the boy said.

"I'm not emo," I said. Max used to call me that along with other annoying nicknames. "I got it in a car crash," I lied.

"Oh..." the girl trailed off. Then she beamed. "Looks like _you_," she pointed to the guy, "owe _me,_" she pointed to herself, "ten bucks."

The guy grumbled and handed her the bills. She counted them happily and I just sat there. Very confused.

"Oh, yeah," she said, noticing me watching her. "I'm Ana, and that's Cray."

"Hm."

"Ms. Jones? Mr. Ride? Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?" The teacher asked, walking over to stand in front of our row. Everybody was watching us.

"Yeah," Ana said. "Nick isn't emo."

Silence.

"You know I've always wondered..." Iggy said and everybody started laughing. That was until Mrs. K gave them all a glare that could rival my own.

"Ms. Jones, you've been going here for years. You know the dress code," she said, looking at Ana's skinny jeans and black tank top under her opened white dress shirt.

"Yep, white top with plaid bottoms," she said, not caring to look up from her stack of bills.

The teacher was silent for a moment, trying to find a loop-hole in her loop-hole.

"Get to work you two," she spat and then went back to her desk.

"Anie and Nikki got in trouble," Cray sang, and I could hear Iggy humming a similar tune. Except his sounded more like, "Fangy got in trouble, and Maxie's gonna kill him..."

"Okay class," the teacher said, clapping her hands to get out attention. "Aside from a few minor interruptions," que glare in my direction, "I believe you kids have deserved some free time. So for the rest of the period you may do what you like. But remember to keep the noise level at a minimum."

Everyone got up and started talking to one another. Cray explained some stuff to me. Mainly where mine and Ig's other classes would be. But after a while of me just nodding he got bored and wondered off to talk to Iggy, who seemed to be making friends with everyone he talked to.

I, on the other hand, was just sitting on my desk in the back of the room, looking out the window.

"Do you know where the dictionary is?"

I looked at the girl who had spoken. "What?"

"Our reference materials are over here," the girl said, pointing. "When we have free study time, you can walk around and do homework. If you need to look up stuff, the computers and other references are over here."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks."

"No problem." The girl swallowed and stepped closer. She was shorter then max and had long, dark red hair. Her eyes were bright green, and her nose had freckles.

"I'm Lissa," she said. "And you're nick, right?"

What did she want? I looked at her. "Uh-huh," I said wearily.

"I'm glad you're in our class."

"What? Why?"

She stepped still closer, and I could smell the lavender scent of soap. Giving me a flirtatious smile, she said, "Why do you think?"

'Cause you want to suck my blood? How the hell am I supposed to know? "Don't know," I said, scooting to the opposite side of my desk. She was standing too close...

She blushed slightly and shrugged, her red hair falling over her shoulders. "Well..." she didn't get a chance to finish.

"Hey Lee," Ana said, walking over.

Lissa looked up and smiled at her. "Hey Anie."

"I see you've met our Nikki," Cray said, walking up beside her. I could see Iggy looking around the room out of the corner of my eye. I started tapping a steady rhythm on the desk and he looked in my direction, nodding.

"_You're_ Nick?" Lissa asked, blushing even deeper.

"Our Nick, your Nick, the Nick, a Nick, whatever you wanna call 'im," Ana said.

"Oh..." Lissa seemed a little nervous and kept sending the Cray and Ana looks, which they happily ignored. "Um, I think Danielle's calling me..." she walked over to a group of girls. They stared talking and glancing at me, then they'd all start giggling. What is with these girls and giggling?

"Poor thing," Ana said, glancing back at her.

"What?" I asked. I was thoroughly confused.

"She's a nice girl, but when she wants something, she fights for it. Even if it's already someone elses," she said, leaning against a book shelf.

I raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Aren't you with—," she was cut off by Cray putting a hand over her mouth.

"So you're not with Max?" he asked.

My eyes got wide and I stared at him in horror, disgust, and... suspicion? Why did he want to know?

"No...she's my sister..." I trailed off.

"But you aren't related, right?" he asked.

"No."

"But you're not together?"

"No."

"Hm. Okay, then. I have to go make some calls." He walked off with no other explanation and I just stared after him.

"Cray and Max, sitting in a tree," Ana started to sing, and I glared.

She smiled. "Defensive much?" she asked.

I stayed quiet, glaring at the back of Cray's head on the other side of the room. He like Max, huh? Well what makes him think she'll like him? Max was better then him. She deserved better. She deserved—.

"Whoa, Nick. Calm down. You keep glaring like that and your heat vision might turn on."

I looked at her. I hated to admit it, but she was right. I shouldn't care anyways. So what if guys liked Max? Girls apparently like me.

"So Lissa, huh?" I asked.

Ana gave me a don't-you-dare look but then just rolled her eyes.

"Here's what you gotta know..."

* * *

**Ahhh! Lissa-ness! It burns!**

**Iggy II: -walks in- Awwww, Fangy made friends!**

**Me: I couldn't help it. He seemed so lonely.**

**Iggy II: -rolls eyes-**

**Me: I hope you all liked it!**

**Review?**

**I didn't have time to edit it, hope it's not too bad! And don't think that Cray and Ana are random OC's. Cray will be _very _important (hint: he's not who you think he is). And Ana? Well she's more of Fang's feminine side. His guru, if you will, in all things female. But I'm going to make her clever. You'll see what I mean...**

**Please don't hate me for the shortness!  
**


	45. Creeperness

**Ugh. I feel like crap.**

**Iggy II: I'm sure it's not as bad as having to listen to your constant coughing.**

**Me: You are so insensitive. Here I am, practically on my _death bed_ and**—

**Iggy II: Oh just type the chapter.**

**Me: Fine! I will!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. If I did then I wouldn't be posting on a _fan _site.

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**

**Fang POV**

"Thank. Fricking. _God_," Iggy said as we entered the cafeteria.

"What? Giggling preps not doing it for ya?" I asked, not really paying attention. From where I had sat in class, I could see everything. But the lunch room was _huge_. And loud. And crowded with lots of people, all of which had a possibility of turning into wolfs at any second.

"Nah, that was fun. The guys around here are asses though." He put a hand around to his back and scratched between his shoulder blades. To anyone else it would have looked casual, but I knew he was looking for another 'kick me' sign.

"I'll take care of it," I said. We'd just come out of fourth period, the first one had been fine, but things just sort of went down hill from there.

We stopped walking when we reached the line for getting lunch. Well, that or the bathrooms. They seemed to be about equal length around here.

"Hey, Fa-ang?" Iggy asked in a tone that immediately made me suspicious. He sounded too nice... "We're close right? You wouldn't rat me out if I, oh I don't know,—" I cut him off.

"No. I don't care _what_ it is. My answer is no." I said. We had reached the front of the line. I grabbed two trays and paid, then handed a tray to Iggy.

"Why?" he asked, sniffing the strange substances and wrinkling his nose.

"'Cause I said so." I sat down at a table in the far back corner of the room. We were right next to a window, so it'd be easy to escape if needed.

"Isn't that Max's line?" he teased. I just ignored him and bit into my apple. I was trying not to look at whatever else was on my plate. From the glimpses I'd gotten, it looked worse than Max's cooking. And that's saying something.

"What _is _this?" Iggy asked, poking a pile of green.

"Goo...something green...and I think a burrito."

"Mmm. Sounds delicious?"

We sat in silence for a while. I was keeping an eye out for anything suspicious while Iggy listened.

"Hi guys!" I heard from behind us and looked up. Nudge was standing there, all smiles and happiness. How she was able to keep up that attitude in a place like this, I will never know. Gazzy was standing next to her, not looking a third as happy as she did.

"Yeah, hey guys," he grumbled as he sat next to me. He crossed his arms on the table and rested his chin on them.

"What happened, man?" Iggy asked, somehow reading Gazzy's expression without actually seeing it.

"Some jerk yelled at me because I didn't stop some kid from jumping off the jungle gym," he explained. "He said I was from planet 'Dumbass'."

Nudge looked shocked, but that quickly turned to anger. Iggy looked pissed as well. I wasn't feeling too happy myself, but I was careful to keep my expression blank.

"You gonna take care of that too?" Iggy mocked me angrilly.

"_Too?_" Nudge asked. "What do you mean? Was someone being mean to you?"

"Don't say it like that," Iggy snapped at her. Then he pouted childishly. "Makes me sound weak."

"I'll talk to Max about it," I said, trying to end the conversation.

I got a chorus of okay's and mhm's, none of them really comforted.

Today was going worse then I feared. After first period, Lissa and her friends had been practically stalking me. Whenever I turned a corner one of them would be there. I swear one was even taking pictures of me. It was a little creepy.

And Cray. He had seemed cool at first, but turns out he's like Max's version of Lissa. Except he'd decided to bug me instead of her. Third period had been full of Max this and Max that.

I was starting to appreciate the whole freak-on-the-run thing. At least we didn't have to deal with normal teenage dramas.

"Hey." I almost jumped. How had no one seen or heard him coming? Well you know what they say: speak of the devil and he shall appear out of no where like a freaking ninja.

I stayed quiet, hoping he'd just leave. No such luck.

"Hi!" Nudge said when Cray sat next to me. Gazzy glanced up and his eyes widened. He looked at me and mouthed, 'you made a friend!?'. I scowled in responce.

"Hi," Cray said casually. "Tiffany, right?"

"Uh-huh, and that's Zephyr. I see you already know Nick. Do you know Jeff too?" she said, her usual talkative-ness taking over.

"Yeah, I'm in a few of their classes. So anyway," Cray turned to me and I recognized the look on his face. The same one he'd had all day. "You wouldn't mind if I asked her out, would you?"

I nearly choked on my burrito thing. "A little young don't you think?" I tried joking. I really didn't want to talk about this.

"Not her," he said gesturing at Nudge, she looked a little offended. "You know who I mean."

"If I say I don't care will you _go away_?" Usually only Angel and Nudge can annoy me to the point of giving in. But this Cray guy seemed to be a master in the arts of bugging people.

"Sure," he said.

I heaved a frustrated sigh. The Flock watched me as I took a last bite of mush. Then I turned to him and said, "No, I don't mind."

He grinned and I thought about taking it back. Did I really want Max to have to deal with him? But then I remembered all the questions, the stupid jokes, him calling me 'buddy'...

Max is a big girl. She can take care of herself.

"Hey, thanks, Nick," he said standing up. I was fighting the urge to punch him in the gut. I instead put my anger into crushing a very unsepecting milk carton.

"Whatever, Cray."

He stopped in mid step and turned around.

"Actually," he said, "Cray's my middle name. My first name's Sam."

* * *

**...**

**Mua. **

**Ha. **

**_Ha._**

**Oh you _losers_! You thought I was gonna leave it at that, didn't you? You should have seen your faces!**

**

* * *

**"Is it just me or did line sound like a villain in a movie?" Iggy asked.

"I admit, that could've gone better," I said.

"Try _a lot_ better!" Nudge said, looking at me in a what-the-hell sort of way. "Now Max is gonna have to deal with his creeper-ness and then she'll get mad and kill him. But then she'll find out it was all _your_ fault and she'll kill _you!_"

Oh my, God.

She was right.

Max was gonna kill him.

My day just got a whole lot better.

But then I realized how royally pissed Max would be if she knew I was the one who told him it was okay to bug her. No matter how completely not my fault that would be.

"Unless..." Nudge said innocently and I saw Iggy and Gazzy take on similar expressions.

Sigh. "What do you want?" I asked, rubbing my temples. How did Max deal with these kids?

"For the rest of the day you have to call me either Queen Nudge, Her Majesty, or... Oh-Mighty-Empress," she said, counting the names off on her fingers.

"I can deal with that," I said. It was lie, but whatever. As long as Max didn't know that I was responsible for her stalker and next murder victim.

"I want to get 'Bite Me' shaved into the back of my head. Max didn't let me when we were in New York," Gazzy said, a big goofy smile plastered on him face.

"No. She'll get mad about that too," I pointed out.

"Fine, I want one of those transformers toys! That movie was awesome!" This of coarse triggered a heated discussion between him and Nudge about the movie. _Bumble Bee's the best! No, Optomis Prime is!_ and stuff like that.

Okay, Gazzy's wouldn't be too hard. Two down, one to go.

I turned to Iggy and raised an eyebrow. He didn't have to see to know that I was waiting.

Suddenly he smiled. "One bomb. _Without_, getting ratted out."

Damn.

I thought about it. Let Iggy blow someone up, and have him get in trouble,_ or_ have Max hate me for the rest of our stay here. And possibly longer, I here those stalkers can be quite persistent.

"Deal," I said.

Him and Gazzy exchanged high fives and I rolled my eyes. I knew this was gonna blow up in my face in a big way. I could feel it in the air. Sort of like the silence before a storm. Or the silence before Gazzy farts. Both were equally true.

They both jumped up and ran for the hallway. I saw Iggy pulling something small and red out of his pocket. It looked like a golf ball with a string coming out of it. Only I knew it wasn't a golf ball. How he had managed to get that bomb past Max, I have no clue.

They disappeared around the corner and I felt instant dread. That was stupid. That was really, _really _stupid.

"All that," Nudge said, gesturing to include the missing Iggy and Gasman, "so she wouldn't beat you?"

Okay, I was being a coward. But so what? I may be stupid, but I ain't dumb (did that make sense?), I knew when I was beat. And Max was _not _someone you wanted to deal with grumpy.

"Yep," I replied.

"Why?"

"I'll tell you when you're older."

She just shook her head and stood up. She walked over to a group of girls and started talking with them, leaving me alone with my half eaten tray of something and a flattened milk carton.

Suddenly there was a loud _boom! _and I closed my eyes, trying to control my anger and frustration.

I really, _really _hate Sam.

* * *

**Wow, I just realized how much I hate writing them at the school. It's so...normal. I can't let my imagination wonder. And sorry I made him sigh so much. I do that a lot, so it tends to sneak into my writing every now and then.**

**Iggy II: -holds out bag- Candy?**

**Me: I know they're cough drops Ig, I can read the bag.**

**Iggy II: -sigh- I tried.**

** ^ (see! another sigh!)**

**Review?...please?  
**


	46. Mom and Mistakes

**Thanks SOOOOOOOO much for the reviews! They were all amaziling! I mean come on, an army of flesh eating sporks? Who wouldn't love that!**

**Also, a note about Lissa and Sam's attitudes. I'm basing them off my friends who best fit their descriptions (Leah and Mac) so they may seem a bit different from how they are in the books. And you need to remember; Fang hates Sam and is going to find everything he does annoying. And Fang's never dealt with normal girls before, so Lissa will be seen as a little... clingy. Just a warning so you don't call them OOC. This is just how Fang sees them.**

**Also, a few people have commented on the whole Anne's Evilness thing. That's just as I always saw her. And, you know, she reminds me of my aunt. Who is pure **_**evil**_**. So I imagined what she'd do in the situation, and just went with it. So yeah, that's about it.**

**Leah: Hi British people!**

**Me: -sigh- And Leah's here today. She loves British people. My suggestion is you say hi back and don't look her directly in the eyes.**

**Leah: -pouts-**

**Iggy II: She's weird.**

**Leah: -reads last line- Who's "Iggy II"?**

**Iggy II: -waves- That would be this handsome hunk of man meat right here.**

**Me: O.o

* * *

**

**Fang POV**

_Twenty-three bottles of beer on the wall, twenty-three bottles of beer..._

See what I've been reduced to? _Singing._ If I didn't get out of here soon, I may go insane.

"Okay kids, get out your text books and turn to page 107," the teacher said. He was the only adult guy I'd seen all day. Only thing was, he was sort of weird. He kept saying 'dude' and 'awesome'. Like he was trying to be cool.

_Trying_.

"Today we'll be talking about gravity and the Earth's rotation." He said it like he was talking about candy. Not surprisingly, no one else seemed this excited.

"Hey," the guy across from me asked. We were all sitting at tables of four, but we were the only ones at ours. "Isn't your brother supposed to be here?"

"Yeah," I said. Iggy had been dragged out of our last class by the school security guard, before the door had shut I had seen the Gasman out in the hallway too.

They had been caught.

Idiots.

"Playin' hooky?" the guy, Kyle or something, asked.

"I guess." I had no clue what a 'hooky' was, but whatever.

"Now," the teacher said, drawing our attention to the front of the room. "I'm gonna do a quick review to see what you already know."

He turned to the white board and drew a giant blob and wrote 'USA' in the middle. Then he drew another blob above it and wrote 'Canada'. In Canada he put an M, but I think it was meant to be a bird.

"This is North America. And this," he pointed to the M Bird, "is Sammy. Sammy wants to get to southern California, but he can't just fly straight, now can he? Why can't he get there?"

There was silence and the teacher, Mr. Fredin, looked around the room in disappointedly. He pointed to a kid at the table behind me. "Zach. Why can't Sammy get to the US?"

"Um...he forgot his passport?" Zach guessed.

"No..." Mr. Fredin said with forced patience. I already knew the answer, having made the flight once myself.

Mr. Fredin sighed when no one else volunteered. "He can't get there because the Earth is rotating beneath him. So by the time he got to California, it wouldn't be there anymore. Even if Sammy had hyper drive and could get there in twelve hours, he'd end up on the other side of the world."

Hm... birds, hyper drive, California. All things I've had to deal with lately. Coincidence? Maybe...or maybe not. **(For those who forgot, the School is in California)**

"So let's try another one," he said, and everyone groaned. He just ignored them. "What super attractive force is affecting all of us right now?" he asked. And this time every hand in the room went up. He must have thought they had the actual answer. But no.

"Me?" they guy he called on said. People started laughing and Mr. Fredin just gave up. He told us to take the rest of the period, only about ten minutes, to talk.

"Because that seems to be all you want to do," he said. I didn't know if he wanted us to feel guilty or what. But is this was his punishment for everything, then I may actually like this class.

"Later," my table-mate said. He got up and walked over to a group of jocks. My technique of ignoring everyone had worked to my advantage. No one seemed to want to bug me anymore.

Only about thirty seconds into my second round of '99 bottles of beer on the wall', the door to the classroom opened, revealing a very pissed looking Max.

_Oh crap,_ I thought. _She must have met Sam._

Right when I was about to bolt she moved aside and Iggy came through the doorway. She said something to him and he nodded. I started tapping on the table loud enough for him to hear. He looked in my direction and made his way over, nimbly avoiding the backpacks scattered on the ground.

I looked back to the door and met Max's eyes. She looked tired and annoyed. She saw me watching and cleared her expression. But her eye lids still drooped a little and her jaw was tight.

I shrugged, my version of 'what can you do?'

Max just nodded and turned away from the doorway. I saw Gazzy standing behind her, keeping a good five feet between them. Yeah, _now_ he's making smart choices.

"What I miss?" Iggy asked as he sat down.

"Not much. Gravity. North America. Passports," I said.

He nodded and started fiddling with a quarter. He'd spin it and then listen to it as it clattered to a stop.

"You know, technically, that didn't count," he said.

"What didn't?" I asked.

"I got ratted out. So I still get my bomb," he answered, looking smug. I kicked him under the table. I really should have made the deal more exact. Make it so that _I _couldn't tell on him.

"Whatever," I said and he smiled triumphantly. I kicked him again and he winced.

"Yeah, hit the blind guy. _That's _fair."

"You're blind, not crippled," I quoted him.

"But I will be if you and Max keep beating me," he said, putting his feet up on the desk. "You know, some would consider that abuse," he said.

"Some people ground kids, Max hits 'em," I replied.

"Oh what, so now she's my mom?" he asked sarcastically.

"Might as well be," I said honestly.

He was quiet for a while, thinking about it. Then he grinned evilly. "Does that mean you're my daddy?" he asked in a baby voice.

I felt my face heat up a little bit and gritted my teeth.

"No," I said curtly. "I'm more of an uncle."

"Mmmmmhm."

I threw a crumpled up worksheet at him and it hit right between his eyes. He blinked a few times and then glared at me.

"Do that again and I'll tell mom," he warned.

I actually smiled.

"I'm not afraid of her," I declared.

"Sure you aren't. You just don't like to get her mad because you're being _nice_."

"You do it to annoy her?" I asked.

"Of course," he said in a no-duh voice. I was about to question his sanity when the bell rang.

We both sighed in relief. If I had to deal with this everyday, then I was dropping out.

"Don't forget you're reports on air currents are due on Thursday!" Mr. Fredin called out as everybody made a mad dash for the door.

As we went down the hallway I saw a flash of red.

_Okay_, I told myself. _You can do this. Just like Ana said. Just a casual, "hi"._

I moved over so that I was walking on the outside of the crowd, Iggy holding onto my backpack.

"Hey," I said to Lissa as I walked by. She looked up and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Hi," she said and smiled.

"See you in English." And with that I dove back into the flood of students. I realized that I had been nervous. What the hell? I do _not _get nervous.

"Who was that?" Iggy asked.

"No one," I answered, not wanting to talk about it. I could tell he didn't believe me, but he didn't push me anymore about it either.

Phase One, as Ana had called it, had gone as planned. No mishaps, no awkward silences. It had been picture perfect.

So why did I feel like I had just made a big mistake?

* * *

**Leah: I don't know who the characters are, but they seem cool.**

**Me: They are. I assure you.**

**Leah: So did you base Lissa off of me Leah or the other Leah.**

**Me: Other. She's a redhead, so she fit better.**

**Leah: -puppy dog eyes- do I not get a character?**

**Me: Fine. I'll base Tess off of you. You certainly have the height. And she's Iggy's crush.**

**Leah: Yay! Man meat!**

**Me: O.o (again)... Oh! I almost forgot:  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. But I still own Iggy II. Leah: -pouts-**


	47. Disturbance In The Force

**Me: -in a bad imitation of Iggy's voice- Howdy y'all!**

**Iggy II: -like a prep- Like, hi!**

**Me: -glare- I don't talk like that.**

**Iggy II: And I don't sound like a hillbilly.**

**Me: You will sound however I tell you to sound!**

**Iggy II: Says who?**

**Me: Says the Author/OC agreement of October 9, 2009.**

**Iggy II: Isn't that today?**

**Me: Exactly! Now do as I say Made Up Character of Mine!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. But I _do_ claim the Author/OC agreement of October 9, 2009!

* * *

**

**Fang POV**

"You ignorant little _sah-vages,_" Gazzy spat in a spot on imitation of the school headmaster. At least I assumed it was perfect by the way Max kept casually glancing over her shoulder, probably thinking Pruitt was here himself.

Angel and Nudge were laughing their heads off, giving Gazzy the sign to go on.

"You malignant little _fiends,_" he said, snorting after the last word. Max broke out laughing and Iggy nearly fell over.

"But sir," he went on in Max's voice. It was a little scary how exact it was, "our parents are missionaries. Lying is the Tenth Commandment. they're _innocent_ of all wrongdoing. What's a stink bomb?"

I couldn't stop my laughter. It had sounded _just like_ Max. He could cause a lot of trouble with that gift of his. Not that he doesn't already.

"Is lying really the Tenth Commandment?" Iggy asked. The only religious learning we'd done was when we'd watch sermons on TV back at the house in Colorado. And I guess you could count that church we went to in New York.

"No idea," Max said. "Let's cut through the woods. This road's making me nervous."

I was itching to break out my wings and take off, but we had all promised Max that we would try to keep a low profile; fly under the radar (literally).

So we started going through the woods at an angle, knowing that we'd run into one of Anne's orchards eventually.

"So who really did set off the stink bomb?" Nudge asked.

Max rolled her eyes. "They did, of course." She glared at Gazzy and he backed away a few feet. Iggy, however, stayed blissfully ignorant of the death glare Max was sending him. "I don't know how, I don't know why. I just know they did."

I was waiting for Gazzy to slip and say, "Oh, we just bribed Fang into saying it was okay." But instead he looked sheepishly up at Max and said, "Well, yes." He even sounded embarrassed. "This kid was a total jerk to me on the playground, and someone stuck a Kick Me sign on the back of Iggy's shirt."

"I told you I'd take care of that," I hissed to Iggy. He looked sort of mad that Gazzy had told Max, but he just clenched his jaw and nodded.

Max sighed. "Guys, you're going to meet jerks in every situation. For the rest of your lives," she said. "But you can't be doing stuff like stink bombs— not right now. We're trying to blend, remember? We're trying to not make waves, to not stick out. So making a stink bomb, setting it off, and getting caught was _not_ the right way to go."

"Sorry, Max," Gazzy said, looking down at his feet.

Her expression softened. She must of understood where they were coming from. I for sure couldn't stay mad at the kid, he was only eight after all. But she was right, the bomb had been stupid. Even though I was the one who told the boys it was okay...

But I digress.

"Listen you two," Max said in a stern voice that made me smirk. She was just so darn cute when she was being serious.

Angel stopped in her tracks and I froze, the relaxed look I had let sneak onto my face turning into a mask in seconds.

"Ooooooh..." Angel whispered as Max lecture the boys. "You called her cuuuuute."

"Tell her and I'll—."

"It's okay Fang," she said patting my arm. She looked up at me and put a finger to her lips. "You're secrets safe with me." Then she skipped off to talk to Nudge.

Okay. That was weird.

I walked up to the rest of the group in time to hear Iggy say, "We'll be more stupid and idiotic in the future. We'll blend."

"Good," Max said.

We had reached the hill that led down to Anne's backyard, her house was visible at the end of the rows of trees and the kids immediately took off.

Max sighed as I walked next her towards the house.

"So," she said, "did you have fun your first day?"

I just looked at her like she was crazy.

"What?" she asked like she was talking to a three year old. "Were the kids mean to you too?"

I was quiet.

"Did the big kids call you names?"

Silence.

She gasped dramatically and covered her mouth. "They didn't call you...," she looked around to make sure no one was litening. "..._emo,_ did they?"

I cracked a smile and she smiled back.

We finally made it to the the front door and went inside. Anne wasn't waiting for us, so that was a good sign.

But still, I felt a disturbance in the force.

She was here. And she was _not _happy.

I sighed. _Great.

* * *

_**That sucked, I know. I tried to add as much humor as I could, but Fang has like, ten lines in the book. So his POV is more like a third person point of view. The next one won't be much better. Blaim James Patterson and his abnormally short chapters. But the one after _that_ should be better....I hope.**

**Review? And anyone who knows a word that rhythms with hungry, tell me. I will love you forever.  
**


	48. Bad Ass FBI Agents and A Maxanista

**Alrighty, I want to give a shout out to renesmeeroxx11 for being my 300th reviewer! And another shout out to Mickeygee for finding a word that rhymes with hungry! And to everyone who said Angry, but I think Sundry works better.  
**

**Iggy II: And I want to give a shout out to Conman2. Thanks to you admitting your British-ness, Leah is no longer stalking me. But I suggest to acquire a new identity. **

**Me: You'll have to excuse him, he's just being dramatic. Leah wasn't stalking him.**

**Iggy II: -presses 'play' on message machine- "Hi Iggy! It's Leah...again! I was just calling to ask how you were doing. And I just wanna say...I LOVE YOU!! Oh, and that T-shirt you were wearing yesterday, was _so_ hot!"**

**Me: Your point?**

**Iggy II: She wasn't here yesterday.**

**Me: O.o  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, Bones, or T.J Maxx commercials (You'll see...). But I do own the new security system I'm getting installed in my house!

* * *

**

**Fang POV**

My relief of not being yelled at was short lived. Because just as we were putting our jackets on the hallway coat tree, Anne came out of the kitchen.

"I got a phone call," she said. She also must have gotten a lesson in cliches. I mean, come on, 'I got a phone call'? Please.

"I guess you're all adjusting." she said, turning to go back into the kitchen. "Well, anyway. Come on into the kitchen. There's hot chocolate and cookies."

What? That's it? No lecture that we can completely ignore?

"Did I sleep through the punishment part, or something?" Iggy asked.

I just stood there.

"Oh no, hot chocolate! Whatever will we do!" Gazzy whisper-shouted.

Max gave him a glare, but I think it was more over the bomb issue, not his sarcasm. Either way, he hunched his shoulders and started walking towards the kitchen.

"Just let me say that I'm very disappointed in your behavior," Anne said as we enter the room. She was at the counter putting together our drinks. She started to pass a mug to Max, but then pulled it back and plopped two marshmallows into it. Max looked down at it with slight sadness in her eyes. Jeb used to do the same thing when we were little...

We all sat down at the table in the dinning room and I sipped my hot chocolate cautiously. I was a bit more relaxed around Anne nowadays, but I would never put _all_ my paranoia aside.

Anne walked in with a plate of chocolate chip cookies, I could see the package they'd come out of sitting on the kitchen counter. Well, at least she was trying.

"I could show you how to make cookies from scratch," Max said suddenly. She sounded thoughtful and sincere too.

We all gaped at her.

She blinked a few times, seeming to realized what she'd said. Her back tensed and I could tell she was about to get defensive.

"There's a recipe on the back of the chip package," she mumbled, eating another cookie.

"I'd like that, Max. Thanks," Anne said, almost looking like she was about to cry. Wow, so much for being a bad ass FBI agent.

"Stink bomb," Total started snickering when Anne left the room. "That must've been great."

"It was Total, it was," Gazzy said, a wistful expression on his face.

"But it was also stupid. _Right_?" Max asked.

"Yes," Iggy and Gazzy said in defeated voices.

A few minutes later we had finished our hot chocolates (with only minimal tongue damage) and polished off the cookies.

"So, what do you guys wanna do now?" Max asked, leaning back in her chair.

"TV!" they all shouted at the same time. The kids had recently declared television as their favorite part of normal life. Iggy even liked just sitting on the couch and just listening to it.

Max met my eyes and I shrugged slightly.

"TV it is," she announced. The kids jumped up and ran into the living room. Seconds later the sound of the evening news filled the house.

Me and Max walked in and took up the only empty seats in the room, the small love seat in front of one of the rooms many windows. **(I'm sorry, I had to make it a love seat :))**

Gazzy was laying on his stomach in front of the TV, his face only inches away from the screen. Max rolled her eyes but didn't tell him to move, he'd just find a way to scoot closer when we weren't watching.

Angel and Nudge were sitting in Anne's giant Lay-Z-Boy, huddled under a big blue and green blanket. Iggy was sprawled out on the couch, eyes closed and concentrating on the noise from the television.

"Good evening," said an almost too perky woman on the screen. She was wearing a red suit and had her bright blond hair in a perfect bob. "We have some breaking news about a recent kidnappings in the DC area. Here with more information, Terry Hender."

The picture changed to one of a tall brunette woman. Her blue eyes looked sad, but she had a fake smile on her. "Thank you Morgan," she said. Then she looked back at the camera with a serious expression. "There has been yet _another _DC kidnapping today. There have been a total of six in the last three weeks and local parents are staring to worry. The DC police and FBI have warned all families to keep doors and windows locked, especially if your kids are home alone.

"Today's victim was twelve year old Marianne Anderson. Her parents say they have no idea who want want to kidnap their daughter, much like the parents of the other missing children have said. Police are still looking into the matters, but there have been no new findings. One official has even said that there may be no connection with the kids. He said that to him, the kidnapping seemed to be almost random.

"The ages of the children taken have ranged from five years old to almost sixteen. A few suspects were taken into custody on Friday, but they are only being held on circumstantial evidence. We will be following this story—."

Suddenly the woman was gone and replaced by a car comercial.

"Hey!" Nudge said. "Who changed the channel?"

"You don't need to be watching that," Anne said from the doorway. We all looked up at her. She was holding the remote in her hand, looking serious. "Here," she said, handing Max the remote. "Find something a bit less... depressing, for the kids to watch."

Max looked like she was about to protest but I nudged her arm softly. It wouldn't be worth fighting her about it. Besides, we could look up more information on the computer later.

"'Kay," she said instead. Anne nodded and left.

As soon as we were sure she was out of ear shot, we all turned to Angel. She had a concerned look on her face.

"She's worried about something...but I can't tell what. Her thoughts are always jumping around, it's hard to get anything clear from her." She gave Max and apologetic look. "Sorry."

"It's fine sweetie," Max said, smiling at her.I could tell she was still troubled by Anne's reaction. So what if we heard about kidnapped kids? We had all been taken from our parents (or so we thought). What was the big deal if we heard about other situations like that? It's not like we're total cream puffs and can't handle it.

Max turned back to the TV and flipped through the channels. "Any requests?" she asked.

"I TiVo'd _Bones_ last week. But I never got around to watching it," Nudge piped up.

"You watch _Bones_?" Max asked.

"Yeah! David Boreanaz is sooooo cute!" she said excitedly, and Max rolled her eyes.

"Any objections?" she asked.

No on said anything, so Max started the episode. **(I have no idea how TiVo works, so I don't know if you just 'start the episode' or what)**

About ten minutes into the show and even I had to admit, it was cool. Iggy even went and made us all popcorn.

"So many big words..." Gazzy said as Bones went on one of her rants about something or other.

"You can say that again," Max said, shoving a fistful of popcorn in her mouth.

"So many big words..." he repeated. Nice.

The show switched to commercial **(does TiVo record commericals?...)** and we all waited through advertisements for Snuggies, Purina Puppy Chow, and then one for T.J. Maxx.

"I'm no longer a fashionista," the girl for the commercial said, "I'm a Maxanista."

Max froze next to me, her eyes wide and her jaw slack.

"Let T.J. Maxx make _you_ a Maxanista," the girl said as they showed the store logo.

There was silence for a few moments.

"Oh. My. _God_," Nudge breathed.

"That was...interesting," I said.

"So, uh, Max," Iggy asked. "Are _you _a Maxanista?"

"You have five seconds Iggy," Max warned.

He scoffed. "Yeah, okay." He went back to listening to the TV.

"One...two...," Max started counting.

"Very funny Ms. Maxanista," he teased, but he sounded a little nervous.

"Three... four..." before Max even finished saying 'four', Iggy was off the couch and running for his life. But, since he was blind and all, he didn't notice that the sliding glass door to the the back yard was closed. He ran right into is and his forehead made a loud smacking noise as it hit the glass.

"Ugh..." he mumbled as he fell backwards and hit the ground. "Ow..."

"Huh," Max said thoughtfully. "I'm so good I didn't even have to get up... Popcorn?" she said the last part to me, holding out her bag. I had finished mine about five minutes earlier.

I looked back at Iggy, who had a big red mark on his forehead. "Eh, why not." I took a handfull and started munching on it. Mmmm...buttery goodness.

We went back to watching the show and Iggy just stayed on the ground.

Hm. Maybe today wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

**The sad part is that I based the Iggy-running-into-the-door part off of personal experience. There was a spider and I was too busy screaming bloody murder to notice that the door was closed. Then _Bam!_ Head, meet door.**

**Iggy II: You're weird.**

**Me: What was your first clue?**

**RnRing is much appreciated.  
**


	49. Get up, Bambi

**I smell like pumpkins and chocolate!**

**Iggy II: Maybe you shouldn't have had that double scoop...**

**Me: What are you talking about? I'm fiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnneeeeeee......**

**Iggy II: This should be a lesson to us all. Sugar and ADD(ish) authors do not mix.**

**Me: Sure we mix! We just don't mix _well._**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or anything else that I might mention in this chapter but then be too lazy to add to the ever growing list of things that I do not own that is this disclaimer.**

**Iggy II: You done?**

**Me: Yep!

* * *

**

**Fang POV**

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Ugh. What the hell was that noise?

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Good, God. Can't I just have _one_ good night's sleep?

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

I sighed and opened my eyes.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Damn, alarm clock," I grumbled as I hit the off button, almost a little _too_ hard.

The red numbers read 6:00. Dang, back when we were on the run I would have _killed _to sleep in this late. But now I'm complaining because I have to get up and go to school. I guess people do change.

I laid there for a few more minutes, enjoying the silence. But I knew it wouldn't last long, it was just about time—

"Fang."

There a faint whisper on the other side of my bedroom door. Then three knocks.

"Fang," the voice repeated. Then three more knocks.

"Fang." Knock, knock, knock. "Fang." Knock, knock, knock. "Fa—,"

"What!?" I raised my voice in irritation. The door opened slowly and Nudge poked her head in.

"It's time," she said in a creepy voice.

"For what?" I asked, going back under the covers.

"For school," she said, throwing my shirt at me. I just let it cover my head and block out the light.

"Go away," I mumbled. I was not a morning person.

"No." She threw my pants and shoes at me, the shoes barely missing my head. Then I heard her foot steps come over to the side of the bed.

"Get up, Bambi," she said, in the same creepy voice.

"What?" I asked, pulling the shirt off my head and leaning on my elbows.

"Get up, Bambi," she repeated. "You must get up."

I just looked at her, a little freaked out.

"You must get up, Bambi.," she said. "Get up. You must get up."

She repeated that for about five minutes straight until I had had enough. I threw my pillow at her and if hit her in the face.

"I'm up," I said, getting out of bed.

"Good," she said, again using what I will forever call, 'the Bambi' voice. "Now, come down stairs. Down staaaairs..."

She stretched out the last word and walked slowly (and backwards) to the doorway. Her voice echoed down the hall as she disappeared around the corner.

That kid has got some serious issues.

I got dressed and went down the steps to the kitchen. It was the same scene as yesterday; Iggy making food, Max plating it, and the kids eating it. Anne was just standing off to the side, watching us all eat plate after plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"Okay, guys," she said a while later. "Wrap it up, we gotta go."

We all finished what was left on our plates and hurried out the door. Max had argued with Anne repeatedly about letting us just fly to school, but Anne wouldn't give in. Said it was "too dangerous". Psh, please. Danger is my middle name.

"You have a middle name?" Angel asked, skipping up beside on our way out of the house.

Crap. I have to stop having cliched thoughts around her.

"But you're thoughts are funny," she said, smiling up at me.

"To you maybe..." I whispered, not wanting the others to overhear.

"Oh believe me, the others think they're funny too." Before I could say anything in response, she ran off and jumped into Anne's car.

She was really starting to bug me.

* * *

**I know, I know, super short. But fear not! For I don't have any more homework to do so I'm gonna post another chapter! And then maybe another! And then if I can find the time**—

**Jammies: -hits with baseball bat-**

**Iggy II: Where would be without you, my violent, furry little friend?**

**Jammies: -smiles-  
**

**Review?  
**


	50. So There Will Be A Wedding! ?

**O. M. G. I. L. M. D. A. I. H. A. S. B. H. C.**

**Iggy II: What?**

**Me: Oh my, God, I lost my dog and have a salad bowl hair cut.**

**Iggy II: Um...what?**

**Me: You have really got to get out more.**

**Iggy II: Oh yeah, _that's_ why I don't get it.**

**Disclaimering: I don't own Maxie Ride or any of her cuddly buddies!

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**

**Fang POV  
**

Our second day of school started out a bit smoother than the first.

But that doesn't mean that I hated it any less.

"Yo," Iggy said, plopping down in the seat next to me. We were in first period, which was supposed to be our English class. But our teacher had to leave two minutes before the first bell because of some family emergency. So now we had a PE teacher watching us. And a PE teacher in charge of an English class is like Max in charge of a cooking class.

In other words, the poor guy was completely lost and told us to just do what we wanted.

"Hey," I said back. Me and Iggy were sitting in the back corner of the room since the sub didn't care much about the seating chart.

"So...."

"Yeah."

I know, we're quite exciting, aren't we?

"Hey party people," Ana said, sitting down. Me and Iggy had sort of kinda let her into our circle. Or line I guess since there's only two of us. She seemed okay enough, and she was too small to be an Eraser. I think...

We just nodded in acknowledgment.

"Wow," she said sarcastically. "It's like you guys are _made _of fun."

"I usually am, but I'm on bomb hiatus," Iggy said.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," she said, sounding impressed. Then she turned to me. "So," she said.

"So?" I replied.

"How'd it go? Phase One? Part numero uno of el plano?" she said.

"What?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Did. You. Talk. To. Lissa?" she said like I was slow, which I guess I kinda was.

Ah, Lissa. I hadn't had a chance to talk to her since that two second conversation the day before. But she hadn't made any move to talk to me either. Not that it was a big deal. The practice with talking with girls had been interesting, but it wasn't very useful for a teenage mutant.

"I said hi," I answered.

"And?" she pushed.

I was just quiet. Why I was telling her anything, I had no idea. I guess I just couldn't talk to Iggy about it, because he was as inexperienced in the girl department as I was. And I couldn't talk to Max because...um, well that would be...uh...

"Why are you blushing?" she asked suddenly. Iggy whipped his head around to look in my direction.

"Who's blushing?" he asked.

"Nick," Ana said in awe.

I rubbed my neck self consciously and sure enough, it was burning up. What the hell? Now I'm blushing at just the thought of Max? Something weird was going on.

"No he's not," Iggy said disbelievingly.

"Yes," Ana insisted, "he is. And all while we were talking _Lissa_."

I held back a sigh of relief. Thank, God. At least she couldn't read my mind and know what I had really been think about.

"That's odd," Iggy said thoughtfully. "All he said to her was hey, then she said hi, and he said see you in English, and then he ran away."

"Aw!" Ana said. "You ran away! Because you _liiiiike _her."

"Very mature," I said as the two of them started cackling.

"Oh! Can be Made of Honor?" Ana asked.

"Only if I'm Best Man," Iggy stated seriously.

"Don't those two end up making out after the reception?" I pointed out.

"So you're not denying that there will be a wedding?" Ana asked, completely ignoring my attempt to change the subject to them.

"No," I said.

"So there's gonna be a wedding!?"

"I meant no, there won't be."

"My, God," Iggy breathed. "You got him to say a full sentence...it's a miracle."

The two of them continued to laugh and make jokes, but I just blocked them out. All I had wanted to know was what Lissa was like. Now, I have a 'friend' and Iggy is having a field day with my humiliation.

And that 'friend' is at the center of it all.

Wow, Fang. You sure know how to pick 'em.

"Oh no," Ana said after a few seconds of me not responding. "He's gone into his Emo Corner."

"We should have Lissa kiss him and see if he wakes up," Iggy suggested.

I snapped back into reality and slugged him in the arm. He winced and rubbed his shoulder where a bruise was probably already forming.

"Violence is not the answer," Ana scolded.

"Then what is?" I asked, hoping on all that is holy that this would change the subject.

Boy, was I wrong.

"This is," she said, smiling evilly. She turned so that she was facing the rest of the class and waved someone over. "Hey Lissa!" she called.

Crap.

Big crap.

_Shit._

"Yeah?" Lissa asked, coming to stand in front of our little group. Her long red hair was pulled into a high pony tail, and her green eyes were surrounded by brown eyeliner and bronze eyeshadow. The 'smokey eye' I believe it's called.

"We were just wondering if you wanted to join us," Ana said. The offer wasn't seen as strange, since they were already friends. But Lissa did look nervously at me and Iggy.

"Okay," she said, sitting down in the seat across from me.

The next few minutes were filled with awkward conversation, but eventually we all seemed to relax a bit. We still stuck to safe subjects, though. Things like school, teachers, weekend plans, that sort of thing.

"Hello class," a voice called over the rest of the noise in the room. Mrs. K had just come in the room, and was slipping off her blue jacket.

"Hello, Mrs. Kesler," everyone called out, almost on instinct. Me and Iggy however just sat there, not real big fans of the morning ritual.

I saw the substitute sigh in relief and then stand up. He nodded to Mrs. K before making a quick escape from the room.

"I'm sorry I'm late everyone," she said as she went to sit at her desk. "There was a false alarm with my father this morning, but everything's fine. Now, I see Mr. Rothgeb is just having you mess around, but I think you all know that that's not how this class works. Now, get out a piece of paper and a pencil."

Everyone groaned but went back to their seats, including me, Ig, Ana, and Lissa. Lissa smiled at me and brushed my arm as she walked by. It was just arm to arm, but it wasn't exactly a normal brush either. It was more...I don't know.

"Oh darn," the teacher said, looking around in one of her desk drawers. She stood up and looked at us all apologetically. "I seam to have misplaced the books you're supposed to be reading out of this week."

The class broke into cheers and applause.

"...But luckily Mr. Pakinas should have extras in his room," she added, and the class all groaned in unison. They seem to do that a lot. **(I actually had a teacher named Mr. Pakinas. I loved his name.)**

"So, who wants to volunteer to go get them?" she asked. Lissa's hand shot into the air and Mrs. K smiled at her. "Thank you, Lissa," she said. "I'll need one more person."

Suddenly Ana smacked me in the back of the head, and pretty hard too.

"Ow," I muttered, reaching my hand up to rub my head.

Mrs. Kesler saw my slightly raised hand and pointed to me, "Nick, thank you for volunteering."

"Bu—," Ana kicked me under the table, but when I turned to look at her she was looking casually in the other direction.

I sighed and stood up. Lissa took a pink slip of paper from Mrs. K, probably a hall pass.

"Thank you, dears," she said as we walked out the door. _Dears? I think I just threw up a little..._

We walked down the hall in silence, not even looking at each other. I had no idea where we were going, so I just turned when she turned and followed her.

That was until I saw a familiar door up ahead. "Uh, isn't that our class?" I asked.

"What?" She looked up from the ground and spotted the door to our English class. "Oh, it is. Why didn't we stop at Mr. Pakinas's class?"

"I was just following you," I said.

"I was following you," she replied.

I chuckled softly. Okay, so that plan didn't work.

"Come on," she said. "It's just down this way." She pointed to a hall to our left.

I nodded and we continued in silence.

"Oh, wait, there he is," she said and I stopped beside her in front of what I assumed was the library. There was a short man leaning against the check out counter, talking to another teacher.

"I'll go ask him for the key to the room. I'll be right back," Lissa said and walked over to him, leaving me standing awkwardly at the entrance.

I looked around the room and saw a familiar blond head, standing near a row of computers.

Max.

I opened my mouth to call her over but she turned her head and looked at someone else.

The person stood up, but I couldn't see who it was past Max. She was pretty tall, so even most of the guys here could hide behind her.

She kept tucking her hair behind her ear and I saw the tips of her ears turn slightly red. But she wasn't punching whoever it was lights out, so she couldn't be turning red in anger.

That only left...blushing.

"Hey," Lissa said, drawing me to attention. "I got the keys. He just said to drop them off afterward."

She held up a small silver key and I nodded, still trying to see past Max.

"Well let's go," she said, tugging gently on my shirt sleeve.

I turned to follow her, taking one last glance at Max before I left.

And I saw who she was talking to.

Sam.

I left the library; feeling angry for reasons I couldn't quite explain.

* * *

**Aieeeeee!! I'm gonna write another one. Weeeeeee!!!**

**Iggy II: Why did I let you have the spinny chair, again?**

**Me: Because it's fuuuuuuuuun!**

**Iggy II: I'm very sorry readers, she's lost it.**

**Me: Yaaaaaaay!!**

**Review? (Do it for my sanity...)  
**


	51. How To Answer?

**Hey peoples of Earth! And Spock (I know your out there)! Thank you for all the _lovely_ reviews you left me. I was afraid the sugar overload would make the chapters suck. But I guess not.**

**Iggy II: It did cause her to pass out when she tried writing a third chapter.**

**Me: Hehe...yeah. I sort of crashed and the A/N looked a little like this:**

**Hey fchnc h n hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh**

**Iggy II: But the 'h' went on for about... eh, three word documents?**

**Me: Yeah, that seems about right. But I'm awake now, so here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. But I do own the wonderful post-sugar-rush headache I woke up to this morning.  
**

**

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**Fang POV**

"It should be right...here," Lissa said as we walked around yet _another _corner. Whatever happened to everything just being 'the second door on the left'?

I nodded and waited as she put the key in the doorknob. There was a faint _click_ and then the door swung open. It was pretty dark in there since the lights were out, but with my handy-dandy raptor vision, I could see just fine.

"God, I can't see a thing," Lissa said. Hm, guess I'm the only one. We eventually found the light switch and flicked it. The florescent lights buzzed for a second before they came on, putting a slight blueish purple glow on the room.

"He has free period right now," Lissa said as she walked across the room to a large wooden desk; I followed a few feet behind. "So he won't be in here for a while..." Her voice trailed off, as if implying something, but I didn't understand what.

"'Kay," I said.

She looked back at me and searched my face, but not even Max would have been able to see any emotion on my face.

"I...They're over here," she said after a little while.

I nodded and followed her over to a large box in the corner.

"He said we may have to sort out the_ Phantom of the Opera's_ from the _Tales of Huckleberry Finn_," she said, pulling a few cream colored books out of the box and setting them on a desk.

_Huckleberry?_ "Sure," I said, kneeling down next to her and taking out some more of the cream colored ones.

As we sorted through the books she kept glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.

"What?" I asked eventually.

She blushed slightly and looked away. "Nothing..." she lied.

The box was almost Huckleberry free, but there were still a few that we had to dig to get, causing our hands to brush against each other every once in a while.

"So," she said conversationally. "You and Ana seem pretty close."

"I guess," was my only reply.

She gave me a smile and leaned a bit closer, like she was telling me a secret. "I'm pretty sure she likes Jeff," she whispered.

"I know." I pulled back slightly.

She blinked a few times. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh...." More silence.

"Um, so...who do you like?" she asked, not looking at me.

I felt my neck heat up and suppressed a growl of irritation.

Now, how could I answer this.

1.) Say I don't like anyone

2.) Be emo and say it doesn't matter because no one will ever love me

3.) Not answer

I just shrugged and stood up. I went over to the back wall and stood in front of it, feeling a little uncomfortable with the current situation.

"So...you don't like anyone?" she asked, standing up too.

Another shrug.

"Well... I like someone..." she trailed off, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Who?" I asked, feigning interest, what I was really think was that we should be getting back to class.

No, that's a lie. I just want _out._

"Who do you think?" she asked, taking a step toward me.

Crap.

* * *

**Real short, but I have to stick to how it goes in the book. And they don't kiss till _next _chapter. But fear not, I will post that chapter in a few. But till then...um... Oh! I know! Go read Napoleon Potter! It's where Napoleon Dynamite (favorite movie EVER!) meets Harry Potter (favorite accent EVER!). It's random but amazing!**

**Iggy II: Halle's gotten to you, hasn't she?**

**Me: You're the one who told me to tell her about FanFiction.**

**Iggy II: No, I'm pretty sure that was you.**

**Me: Oh...ok...whatever! Still, read it!**

**Reviewer-ness-ism?  
**


	52. The Taste Of Her Cherry Chap Stick

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. But I do own the many flaming bananas that are bound to be thrown at me after this.**

**Iggy II: Flaming bananas?**

**Me: Don't ask.

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**

**Fang POV (Listen to Katy Perry's _I Kissed A Girl_, it goes well with the chapter)  
**

What was with this girl and making me guess crap? What was she? The human version of twenty questions?

"I have no idea," I said.

She stopped mid-step, thinking something over. Then she straightened up and looked me in the eye. More then I can say for even most of the teachers here.

"I," she said, taking a sort of step/skip towards me. "Like," she said with another step.

"You." She landed right in front of me, her green eyes boring into mine. She was much shorter then me, so she was looking up through her long eyelashes to see me.

I. Like. You. She likes me...Like, _like_ like me? Oh crap. What fresh, confusing hell is this?

I saw something out of the corner of my eye but ignored it. I kept my eyes on Lissa, waiting for her to turn into an Eraser.

And she did attack me. Just...not the way I would have expected, say, Ari, to attack me. (Or at least I hope he never does)

She put her hands on my chest and pushed hard. My back hit the wall and I prepared myself for her to take a swipe at me.

But instead of punching me or something, she pushed up against me like static cling.

Before I could get a single word out, her lips were on mine.

Shit.

Shitty shit shit, with a side of steaming damnit.

She moved her lips against mine and I just stood there.

_Okay, calm down,_ I told myself. _She's human, push her _gently_ away._

I brought my hands up to push her back but stopped myself, instead placing them on the small of her back.

Why shouldn't I kiss her? She was a girl, I was a guy, we were friends(ish). And she was...pretty. I think. The only other girl I'd been close to was Max. But she was tough. Where Lissa was small and fragile, Max was tall and strong.

But just because she was the opposite of Max, did mean she was pretty.

_Oh screw it,_ I thought, letting myself kiss her back.

The only other person I'd kissed was...well _sorta _Max, but she had more kissed me. So I was sort of lost, but I didn't think I was too bad. I mean it wasn't a _bad _kiss. It just wasn't...I don't know. Fireworks? Was that too lame?

I let my hands run up her back, and it was very strange. Instead of the normal bulge I'd been expecting, there was just smooth fabric over smooth back.

Duh, she didn't have wings. I kept forgetting that.

She tilted her head slightly, and I did the same. Our mouths moved slowly (and to be honest, awkwardly) together. Her hands came up and around my neck and I opened my eyes slightly, just to make sure no one had walked in while I wasn't paying attention.

And I nearly screamed like a little girl.

Max.

She had been standing there for only a nanosecond, a look of horror and shock on her face. But as soon as she was there, she was gone. Maybe I was just seeing things. It hadn't been her. I mean, she had class right now, why would she be at the door?

"Nick?" Lissa asked. I had completely froze.

Nick. That's who I was. _Nick._ She wasn't kissing Fang, she was kissing Nick.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Did...did I do something wrong?" she took a slight step back and I was afraid she was gonna cry.

"No," I said quickly. "I just saw the clock," I said pointing to the one on the wall behind her. "We only have a few minutes."

She turned around and spotted the time. She relaxed visibly and then turned back to me, smiling sheepishly.

"That was...nice," she said.

"Yeah," I replied. "It was."

But that's it, just nice. It was my first kiss, that's the only reason I kissed you, because I wanted to know what it was like. So don't think that—

She smiled and walked back over to me. She pecked me lightly on the lips and then went over to the box of books.

"Can you help me with this?" she asked, grabbing one handle.

I cleared my throat, still a little shocked by a few seconds ago. "Uh, yeah," I said.

"Thanks." I picked up the other handle and supported most of the weight. We left the room and I looked around, expecting to see a furious Max standing there. But she wasn't. I must have just been seeing things. That was the only explanation. **(A/N: Idiot)**

"So, where does this leave us?" Lissa asked as we neared Mrs. Kesler's class.

Oh, God. Why must she make me guess everything? Doesn't she know that _I don't know_?

"Uh...," I was saved by the door to the class opening.

"Nikki? Is that you?" Iggy asked, poking his head out of the room. I would kill him for calling me that later. Right now I was just happy I was out of that awkward situation

"Yeah," I said. I pushed past him and Lissa followed. We dropped the box on the front desk and it made a loud _boom_.

"Took you long enough," Mrs. K said jokingly. But the class broke into snickers and giggles.

"Mr. Pakinas wasn't in his room, so we had to go look for him," I said as calmly as possible.

The class quieted down. And they might have stayed that way...

If it weren't for Lissa blushing the color of a train engine.

"Ohhhh...," I heard Ana whisper to Iggy, who was sitting in my seat. "She's bluuuushing."

I went to my seat and kicked Iggy in the shin.

"Ow! Why kick me? _She _said it!" he said. I just kicked him again and he huffed, getting out of my chair.

I sat down and Mrs. K started passing out the books and telling us our homework.

"Ten minutes," Ana said, turning completely towards me.

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"That's how long you were gone. Ten minutes," she said. She was practically bouncing in her seat.

"He wasn't in the room," I said.

She gave me a I'm-not-that-stupid look and crossed her arms.

"Nicholas Ride," she said. "Lissa came back more red then her hair and you were speaking in full sentences. Look me in the eye and told me that _nothing_ happened."

I just looked at her, and she looked back.

"Nick, don't stare at me," she said eventually. "You're girlfriend will get jealous."

I froze. That's what she'd meant by 'where does this leave us?', wasn't it? She thought she was my....

I resisted the urge to bang my head against the table. I probably wanted to save those few working brain cells in case I ever survived this hell they call 'school'.

The bell rang right as Mrs. K handed me my book. I pulled my backpack on and plopped the book inside, not even looking at the cover. I made a mad dash for the door, grabbing Iggy roughly by the arm as I went by.

"Bye, Nick," Lissa said as I walked by.

"Bye, Lissa," I said. I almost smacked myself in the head. I shouldn't have said her name, now she thinks we're together because I—

**Fang? Can you keep your thoughts down? Max is giving me enough of a headache,** Angel piped up in my head.

_Yeah whate_— _wait, what about Max?_

**She's freaking out, and I'm pretty sure she's about ready to shoot the voice. Well, as much as you can shoot a voice in your head. But you get what I mean.**

Okay, there's gotta be another explanation. Maybe the voice was bugging her about saving the world or something. Yeah, that's it...

"Um, Fnick?" Iggy said. "Where, exactly, are you taking me?"

I had been pulling Iggy down random hallways, not even looking for our next class.

"Um...can I tell you something?" I asked, changing the subject as I spotted out class. We came to a stop next to the door.

"Sure. What's up?" He seemed a little freaked out by my nervousness.

"I kissed a girl," I said. "And I liked it."

"The taste of her cherry chap-stick..." he started to sing. I hit him in the arm.

"And I think Max saw," I hissed at him.

"Oh.... Oh this _is _bad," Iggy said.

"What? Why?" I asked. I had just needed to tell him. I didn't expect him to know why I was freaking out. _I _didn't know why I was freaking out.

He just sighed and reached for the doorknob. "If you don't know," he said, opening the door. "then you're a bigger idiot then I thought."

He disappeared into the classroom and I was left standing there, completely confused.

Well, not _completely. _I had a pretty good idea what he meant.

And I didn't totally wish he was wrong, either.

* * *

**Ah, poor, stupid Fang. At least Iggy isn't as clueless. **

**And, hehe, that turned out _really _rambly towards the end. Sorry about that.**

**Iggy II: So, since I had to sit through that,** **does that mean I get a vacation?**

**Me: Mmmm...I'll think about it.**

**Iggy II: Isn't that just a nice way of saying no?**

**Me: -pats head- You're learning well.**

**Review?  
**


	53. A MANLY Online Diary

**What.**

**The.**

**Fudge Nuggets.**

**Iggy II: Fudge Nuggets?**

**Me: Shut up! Can't you see I'm freaking out!? **

**Okay, for those of you who don't have Max-Dan-Wiz accounts, you may not have seen the cover to _Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel_.**

**Well let me tell you, it's crap. Not only does Fang not look like Fang, at the top of the cover it says: "Angel says Fang will be the first to die. Angel is never wrong."**

**Que the creepy music...**

**And the Disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or any of it's gay ass book covers. :(

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**Fang POV**

"You know what I think?" Iggy asked me.

"Hm?"

"This place would burn down so fast, they'd probably never find any evidence of who did it." **(I actually said that about my school library :))**

"As fun as that sounds..." I said. "No."

"You're boring."

"Back at 'cha." I said. We had free period right after lunch, but we didn't have much to do. So we were just sitting at one of the tables in the library. Only about three feet from where Max and Sam had been talking...

"Baby Goats," Ana said, sitting next to Iggy.

"Uh, hello," I said.

We sat there for a few minutes, not doing anything. We didn't have any homework either, so we couldn't bore ourselves with that.

"You people need to get some hobbies," Ana said.

"Like what? Chess club?" Iggy asked.

"No, like...sports. Or band. Or choir even. Just so that I don't have to babysit you two all day." She said.

"No one's asking you to stay," I pointed out, leaning back in my chair.

"Yes, but if I wasn't here then there'd be no one to hang with Jeff while you run off playing Romeo with Lissa." I suppressed a growl. Her and Iggy wouldn't leave me alone about it. Apparently Lissa and Ana had talked about our kiss all during lunch. So she wouldn't shut up about it. But Iggy was having the weirdest reaction.

He was mad.

Well, I think. He kept giving me disapproving looks and shaking his head.

"I know!" Ana finally said. "You could start a blog!"

"A what?" Iggy and I asked at the same time.

"You know, a blog. It's like an online diary—,"

"No," we said.

"A _manly_ online diary. You just talk about what you're doing. Hey, you could talk about being here at a new school," she said, sounding like she'd proved string theory or something (We learned about it in science. Not even super-chemistry-genius Iggy understood it).

Then it hit me. I _could _make a blog. Not about a new school, but about _the _School. About me and the Flock. The wings, the whitecoats, everything. That way people actually knew about us, without having to expose ourselves.

This could actually work.

"Okay," I said, nodding my head. "A blog. Cool."

"Seriously?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah," I said shrugging. "We can tell everyone about our _last _school."

He seemed to get what I was getting at and nodded too. Ana however, stayed oblivious.

"I'm two for two for brilliant plans this week," she said, standing up and going over a computer. "Sweet."

I went and sat down next to her. She brought up a web page and typed in a URL.

"Now we just make you an account...," she said, filling out a form. It took a few minutes and she had to open up a few other pages too. But evntually she said, "Activate it...And we're done. Here you go." She pushed the keyboard over to me and I just looked at it.

"Uh...." Maybe this wasn't a good idea...No, I had to. It was just the years of paranoia that was making me so hesitant.

"I'll go talk with Jeff. Have fun." Then she stood up and left. Leaving just me, and the computer.

I looked at the screen. There was a box that said [insert blog name here]. Okay, what would be a good blog name? The Flock? Nah. Uh...how about, Maxocracy. No, Max's ego didn't need to be any bigger. Baby Goats? Damn you Ana. Come on Fang! You've done harder things then trying to come up with blog names!

That's when it hit me. Fang's Blog. It's brilliant!

I typed it into the box and then pressed continue. A blank document popped up and it said [put entry here]. Okay. Here we go.

I started typing

* * *

Welcome to Fang's Blog.

You are viewer:

HI, I'M FANG. I'M GENETICALLY ENGINEERED, I HAVE WINGS AND I CAN FLY. MY WHOLE FAMILY CAN.

There's Max; our leader (though who elected _her _leader, I have no idea). Then me (Fang) and my brother type friend Iggy. Ig's blind, but a total pyro, same with the Gasman. Though he can clear a room with more then just a bomb.... Next there's Nudge. She's the talkative middle child. She's older then Gazzy but not as old as me, Max and Iggy (all 14). And last but not least, there's Angel. She's a mind reading devil with a talking dog.

But more on them later.

I was created at the School. It's an evil facility in California that focuses on genetically altering children. The only other successful experiments besides me and my Flock, are the Erasers. They're wolf/human hybrids that are made to kills us. We've been on the run for four years now. A scientist at the School broke us out the first time, and we've had to escape a couple of times since. But we're coping pretty well.

So. What's your name?

* * *

_Hmmm..._ I thought to myself. _Not too bad. Short, but informative. Very Nice.  
_

I pressed the post button and a message popped up on the screen saying 'blog posted'.

Well, I guess that's that. No going back now.

"Fang?" Iggy said, coming up behind me. "You done?"

"Yeah." I logged out of my account; writing down the username and password. NikkiBoy for both. Very mature Ana...

"What'd you say?" Iggy asked as we made our way out of the library. The bell would be ringing any second so we were heading to last period. Day two was almost done.

"Who we were. What we are. Where we come from. That stuff," I said vaguely.

He nodded and the bell rang out through the halls. As the doors opened up I thought about if this had been a bad idea. Any one of these kids around me could read what I'd posted. If I let anything slip, they could figure out who we were. Our cover would be totally blown.

But oddly... I didn't care.

* * *

**The OOC-ness. It buuuurns. But I had no other choice. I seriously hate the chapters at the school. It's so... unexciting. And normal. Bleh. **

**Anywho! This was another one of those Ari POV chapters in the book. And I always wondered how exactly Fang came up with the idea for a blog. And I just _happened _to have an OC sitting around, waiting for something to do, so I just let my mind wonder with the possibilities and ended up with this.**

**Iggy II: You tend to do that a lot.**

**Me: If I didn't then I wouldn't be the amazing author I am today.**

**Iggy II: Yeah..._sure._**

**Me: Whatever. And remember children: Angel is often wrong (take that new MR cover!) and friends don't let friends hang out with Dylans (take that new MR character!).**

**RnR?  
**


	54. FanFreakingTastic

**Yes! A fight scene! _Finally!_ All I have to do is improvise a little at the beginning and then tie it into what the book says but add some....-walks away muttering-**

**Iggy II: She really isn't normal, is she?**

**Jammies: -shakes head-**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. But I...uh...[insert something clever here].

* * *

**

**Fang POV**

So let's recap today.

I had my first (technically second) kiss.

I _might _have pissed off Max. Not sure, she wasn't really talking to me.

Iggy and Ana were quickly climbing to the top of the list of pains in my ass. Currently they were tied for the spot above Nudge's Bambi Voice and below Angel's constant need to be in my head.

And last but not least, I had told the world our secret. Well, the part of the world that has internet access anyways.

But whatever.

So a not a _perfect _day, but not too terrible either.

If only that thought had lasted longer then two seconds.

The Flock and I were walking back to Anne's house, laughing and smiling and enjoying the fresh air.

That was until I nearly went deaf from the sound of tires screeching to a stop a few feet behind us.

We all whipped around to see a large white van had stopped next to us. It didn't have any plates and the bottom half was mud splattered and dented, almost as if someone had taken a metal baseball bat to the sides of it.

The guy in the passenger seat leaned out the window and sneered at us. "Want a ride, kids?" he asked. I heard slight chuckles from somewhere behind him, but he was blocking my view of the inside of the van.

"What," Max snarled from beside me, "no candy?"

Suddenly her eyes went wide as she spotted something behind the guy. I notticed how his hair seemed to be growing visibly longer, and his smile was turning semi-pained as his teeth elongated and his jaw grew.

Eraser.

There was an evil laugh from behind the Eraser and I saw a quick flash of the last person I wanted to see right now.

Ari.

"Showtime, folks!" he shouted. "Max is mine!" Yeah, over my dead bird boy body.

The tires locked and the entire Flock got into fighting positions. Erasers were spilling out of the back of the van, already morphed.

Great. Fan-fricking-tastic. Things had been going _so good!_ And now Ari had to go and ruin our lives. _Again._

"Happy now?" I muttered to Max, I mean this is what she'd been waiting for, right? She shot me a glare but I was too pissed to even care. She launched herself at the closest Eraser and started beating the crap out of him.

And the sad thing was, I think she was happy. Her eyes seemed more alive and alert as she made last second dodges and threw well planned punches.

And what was worse? I was feeling pretty good myself.

An Eraser tried to jump me as I made a quick 360, but I was ready for it. I dodge to the left and felt the whoosh of air as his fist whizzed past my head. I grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back. He gave an angry roar as I popped his shoulder out of it's socket. I then pulled his other arm with as much force as I could muster and stretched out it straight behind him. There was a loud pop as the elbow gave out too. I kicked his feet out from under him and he started falling. He tried catching himself but screamed again at the pain in his arms.

Once I was positive that the Eraser had passed out from the pain, I did a quick survey of the Flock. Nudge and Iggy were fighting back to back, taking on two Erasers each. But they seemed to be doing okay. Angel was making a female Eraser run head first into a tree and Gazzy was sneaking up on the Eraser Max was fighting.

"Looking for me?" a voice said from behind me. I growled and turned around, at the same time taking a step back. Ari's punch missed by a mile and I gave him a hard kick to the throat. He staggered backwards, coughing heavily. I tried punching him in the side of the head, but my anger was making me sloppy, and he easily dodged.

He grabbed my upper arm and pushed me face first into a nearby tree. He held a hand on the back of my neck and the other kept my wrists behind me. I felt blood trickle into my mouth as I cut my cheek on the rough bark while struggling.

"Not this time Tweetie," he growled, then he pulled my head back and pushed it forward again, my head hitting the tree with a sickening crack. I felt the wood cave in slightly and the splinters dig into my forehead and pretty much everywhere else.

I fell to the ground as I started seeing stars. The taste of blood was now coming from outside and inside my mouth. I had bitten my tongue when I hit the tree and I groaned softly at the stinging pain it gave off.

I heard a wheezing sound and opened my eyes slightly to see Max clutching her side, Ari was sneering down at her.

I growled and stood up, but my head was pounding, and I was seeing two of everything.

Once I was steady enough to at least walk, I made my way over to where the Flock was taking out the last of the Erasers. A few had retreated to the van, but we would leave them.

"Come on, guys," I said to them. Nudge dropped the Eraser she'd been holding up for Gazzy to hit. It fell the ground already unconsious.

I got them all a little ways into the woods, still keeping an eye on Max, and then signaled for them to take off. Angel and Nudge took off first, followed by the Gasman.

"Ig, go," I urged him, looking over my shoulder to check on Max again.

"Where's Max?" he asked.

"She's fighting Ari," I said, without thinking. He froze up and narrowed his eyes in the direction of the two. "She's fine," I said, pulling him toward an opening in the trees where we could take off. "_Go._"

He hesitated for a second, but then jumped into the air. I followed close behind and told him when he was clear of the trees. Then we went over to hover above where Max and Ari were.

Max was edging towards the trees, her wings unfolding from the slits in her shirt. But she didn't once take her eyes off of Ari.

I saw her say something to him and then smirk. He lunged for her but she had already jumped in the air, her wings carrying her easily to the top of the trees. Ari shouted something incoherent and then stomped off to the van. He jumped through the back doors and slamed them loudy, shaking the whole frame of the vehicle.

I looked over at Max and saw that she had a confused look on her face. I followed her gaze back to the van, but it was already gone.

I raised an eyebrow at her when she looked my way.

"Nothing," she said uncertainly, looking back at where the van had been. But then she shook her head and looked back at me, her gaze guarded. "Let's get the Flock back," she said.

I nodded and we rounded up the troops. We were all shaken up by the sudden appearance of the Erasers and wondering the same thing.

When would they be back?

* * *

**See? Wasn't that so much better then the whole school thing? I mean, I know what school's like. Unfortunately, I go there every day. Fighting Erasers however, is cool and exciting! So I'd definately take that over the whole, Lissa/Fang Max/Sam Iggy/Tes Fang?/Max? Iggy?/Santa? thing.**

**Iggy II: What was that about Iggy and Santa.**

**Me: Uh...nothing.**

**Iggy II: -suspicious look-**

**Review? (Or Iggy and Santa's forbidden love may never be resolved!)  
**


	55. Neither Do I

**I bought a pumpkin! His name is Peter. Yes, Peter Pumpkin. **

**And I also have a quick Leah update. She has to go to therapy. _Tongue _therapy. She has 'tongue thrusts' (no idea what it is) and has to 'train her tongue' so that it doesn't...er...thrust.**

**Iggy II: Now only if they'd move a few inches back from her tongue, they'd be able to treat some real problems.**

**Me: Her brain is fine, Ig. It's just...abnormal.**

**Iggy II: _I'm_ abnormal. _She's_ crazy.**

**Me: Details, details.**

**Disclaimer: I don't have control over Maximum Ride. Like Leah has no control over her tongue. (That sounded weird...)

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**

**Fang POV (Warning: It's a filler. Not that funny and most likely very boring. Sorry :()  
**

"What happened to you?" Anne cried as we walked in the front door.

We hung up our bloodstained and ripped jackets. We all had some sort of cut or bruise, but we were used to it. Anne on the other hand, was not.

Total wove himself between our feet, sniffing at our feet andgrowling every now and then. Angel knelt down next to him and hugged him close.

"Those _wankers_," he said softly enough so Anne wouldn't hear.

"Erasers," the Gasman said nonchalantly. "I'm hungry. Is there a snack?"

"What are Erasers?" Anne asked, ignoring his question. She sounded genuinely confused.

Did she really not know? I thought this had all been in her files or whatever. Hm, I guess she didn't know that much about us after.

Score for us.

"We're human-avian hybrids," Max said, walking down the hall to the kitchen. "Erasers are human-lupine hybrids."

"Rabbits?" Anne asked, sounding even more confused. I chuckled softly as I followed the rest of the Flock into the kitchen.

Max giggled. "That's _lapin_," she said. "Or, more correctly, _leporid._ Not _lupine_."

"Oh. Wolves," Anne said, finally getting it.

"Give the lady a prize," I heard Max mutter as she turned the corner into the large kitchen. The kids all ran towards the bowls of food waiting on the counter.

"Popcorn!" Gazzy exclaimed, a huge smile on his face. "And hot apple cider!"

"Wash your hands," Anne said, then looked for closely at his bruises and frowned.

I looked over and saw Max doing the same. Her eyes lingered on me for a second, something strange flashing in her eyes. But it was gone in a flash and she went over to Nudge to started pickling leafs out of her mane of hair.

"Get cleaned up," Anne said. "I'll get some bandages. Is anyone hurt seriously?"

"No," Nudge said. "But an Eraser tore my sweater. Jerk."

Everyone needed to clean their uniforms too, but there wasn't anything to serious. Though my head was still pounding from being shoved into that tree.

"There's milk too," Anne said, taking glasses out of a cabinet. She put those and a glass bottle on the table. She then left to get the first aid kit.

"You okay?" I asked Max quietly. She was scowling down as the glass of milk, and I noticed it wasn't the same as usual. Anne usually got milk in a carton, the one with missing kid pictures on them.

"Yeah...," she said, trailing off. I knew something was up, but she didn't seem to want to tell me.

I grabbed a bowl of popcorn off the counter and headed upstairs. I had just logged onto the computer in Anne's office when there was a knock at the door.

I didn't say anything, and a few seconds later the door opened. Anne came in and shut the door lightly behind herself.

She turned away from the door and jumped a bit when she saw me. "Nick," she said, putting a hand over her heart. "You scared me."

"Oops," I said, turning back to the computer screen.

"Why didn't you answer when I knocked?" she asked.

"Would you have still come in?" I asked.

"Yes..." she said.

"That's why."

She looked like she wanted to say something about my attitude but didn't. Instead she just stood there, looking at me.

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. "Yeah?" I asked.

She took a step forward and looked slightly worried.

"Is Max...is Max mad at me?" she asked, lacing her fingers together nervously.

"No..." I said, raising my eyebrows. "Should she?"

"No, it just seems like.... Well, I think we got off on the wrong foot."

_You've got that right..._ "And you're talking to me because...?" I asked.

"Well, you two seemed close," she said. "I just assumed that if she'd said anything, it'd be to you."

"Nope." In fact, we're so close, she's _avoiding_ me.

"Well do you _think _she's mad at me?" she persisted.

"Why don't you ask her," I answered with forced patience. After the Eraser attack, I just wasn't in the mood for her million questions.

"Nick, please," she begged. Ah crap. Couldn't she see that I had a pounding headache and wanted nothing more then to be _left alone_?

I sighed and looked back at her. "Max is leader," I said. "You're starting to take her place. Or so she thinks. She's not too happy with that."

Anne visibly relaxed at that. "That's it?" she asked, laughing slightly.

"Uh...yeah."

"Well she shouldn't worry. Even though she isn't really the mother type. She should be thankful I'm helping out, she needs the time off," she said. And she was right. Max was just a kid, only a bit older then the younger kids. But she'd always been who they looked up to. So even if she tried not to take care of them so much, they'd be too used to her always being there for her to stop now.

"That all you wanted to know?" I asked. She nodded and turned to leave. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, and Nick?" she asked, her hand resting on the knob.

"Yes?" I asked politely.

"Is she mad at _you?_"

"What was your first clue," I grumbled as I turned back to the computer.

She smiled at me and shook her head. "It'll be fine," she said as she left, shutting the door again.

Yeah, easy for her to say. She didn't even know why Max was mad at me.

But then again, neither did I.

* * *

**I was honestly thinking about not even putting this up and just skipping this chapter. But I vowed to put up _all_ chapters, so here it is. Sorry for the sucky-ness.**

**But good news, today is _another _two chapter day! I'll have it up as soon as I'm done with my home work. Might even put up two more.**

**Iggy II: You need a social life.**

**Me: But Iggy, you _are _my social life! -hugs-**

**Iggy II: -struggles- That doesn't even make sense!**

**Me: Neither does you and Santa! But it's still true!**

**Iggy II: -scowl-**

**Review?  
**


	56. A Little Posessed

**No A/N. Too sleepy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride...James Patterson does...something about Iggy and Santa...**

**Iggy II: Hey!

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**

**Fang POV**

_Knock, knock._

I looked up from my book and looked at the door. I had spent the last hour or so getting a head start on the book I had to read for English, _Phantom of the Opera._ Of coarse Iggy didn't have to read. Nope, not even a book on tape.

Lucky duck.

"Yeah?" I called.

The door opened and Max poked her head in. She had a banded on her cheek where Ari had cut her earlier. But other then that, she seemed to be okay.

"Hey," she said, opening the door more. "It's getting late. Mind helping me get the kids to bed?"

I nodded and put the book down, it wasn't that interesting anyways.

I walked past her and into the hallway. "I'll get the guys," I offered.

She smiled and turned down the hall towards Nudge's room. "Thanks," she said.

I nodded again and went over to Iggy's room. I knocked on the door and there was a muffled reply.

"You asleep?" I asked, opening the door slightly. I saw Iggy splayed out across the bed, his face buried in his pillows.

"Was," he mumbled.

"'K. 'Night," I said. He gave me the thumbs up and I rolled my eyes.

_Huh, that wasn't too hard,_ I thought as I made my way to Gazzy's room at the end of the hall. _I wonder why max always complains about this?_

The door was already slightly open so I pushed it open gently. The room was dark except for a square of light coming from a TV in the corner.

"Gaz?" I asked looking around the mostly dark room. I spotted him staring at the television screen, his nose only a few inches from the glass.

"Uh?" he asked, turning his head in my direction but not looking away form the screen.

"Bed time," I announced. He just mumbled something and turned back to the TV.

"Gazzy, " I said, stepping into the room. As soon as my foot crossed the doorway his head whipped in my direction. His pupils were barely visible and he looked extremely pale in the blue glow of the TV. He almost looked possesed.

"I'm not tired," he said groggily.

"Sure you aren't," I said, taking a few more steps. I was almost expecting him to say 'they're heeeere', but he just looked defiantly up at me.

"I'm not going to bed," he said.

"Sure you aren't," I repeated. I stood behind him and picked him up around the waist. He struggled weakly and I hoped beyond hope he didn't let one loose.

"Lemme go," he murmured.

"Sorry, bub." I set him down on the bed and he snuggled under the covers.

"I can't go to sleep. I'm not tired. I'm just gonna lay here all night and not get any...." His voice became too soft for me to hear as his eyelids started drooping.

"Uh-huh," I nodded as I turned off the television and then weaved my way through the room. Clothes and toys were scattered over the ground, but with my raptor vision, I was able to make it to the door in one peace.

"I will not be..." Gazzy tried to protest but I was already out the door. I closed it softly and waited a few seconds. Sure enough, soft snores floated through the door and into the hall.

I chuckled as I made my way down the hall, passing Anne on the way.

"Max?" I asked.

"In Ariel's room," she said. "Good night, Nick," she said as she went into her room.

"Night."

I passed Nudge's room and saw her already asleep, huddled under about a hundred blankets. Next I went to Angel's room where I could hear her and Max talking. I peaked in and saw Max standing with her back to the door. angel was in bed with Total tucked under her arm.

"...I hated seeing the Erasers today," I heard Angel say.

"You and me both," Max answered. "Ari really creeps me out. Do you pick anything up from him?"

Angel was silent for a minute, probably thinking things over. "Dark," she finely said. "Red. Angry. Torn. Confused. He hates us."

I frowned slightly at the picture she had painted in my head. Ari wasn't exactly Mr. Bright Side was he?

"And he loves you," Angel said, making me freeze, my eyes going wide.

"He loves you a lot."

* * *

**Okay, I guess I won't be able to do that third chapter. But I had _a ton_ of homework, so I'm wiped.  
**

**Iggy II: -snore-**

**Me: Lucky. You know, I may have to start bringing him to school. Let's see him sleep peacefully _then._**

**RnR? Quick, before I.............Zzzzzzzzzzz....  
**


	57. Bird Brain

**It's here. Waiting.**

**Iggy II: What is?**

**Me: The spider. I tried to kill it, but it wouldn't die. Because that would be too _easy,_ wouldn't it?**

**Iggy II: Uh...yeah. And you know it's here...how?**

**Me: My spidey senses are tingling...**

**Iggy II: Okaaaay. Hows 'bout you go look for the spider, and me and Jams will post the chapter.**

**Me: Good idea. Split up. Take it by surprise. -leaves-**

**Jammies: ...**

**Iggy II: I completely agree.**

**Disclaimer: She doesn't own Maximum Ride. But her and Leah (not tongue therapy Leah, but Leah M.) are Co owners of Ninja Academy.

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**

**Fang POV (The first time I typed this up, I finished and then pressed a wrong button, deleting the whole thing. Hopefully this is as good as the first!)  
**

I backed away from Angel's room as quickly and quietly as I could. It wasn't fast enough though.

When I was about half way down the hall, Max came out of the room. Luckily, she was looking over her shoulder at Angel's now closed door, and didn't see me. She looked pretty freaked.

She wasn't paying attention and nearly walked into me, so I took a step back, bumping into a potted plant. The noise alerted her to my presence and she whipped her head around, surprised to see me standing there.

"They down?" I asked, keeping my expression blank.

She nodded. "They're beat. School really takes it out of them. And then, of coarse, Erasers."

"Yeah."

I heard a door open behind us and turned to see Anne coming out of Nudge's room. Huh, she must have gone in while I was listening to Max and Angel. She smiled at us and mouthed, "Good night", then headed downstairs.

I looked back at Max and saw her jaw tighten. She was looking back and forth between Nudge's door and Anne's retreating figure.

"Let them enjoy it while they can," I said. She gave me a mini glare and I held back a smirk. I could read her like a book and she hated it.

"She's taking my place," she said. I was pretty sure I wasn't supposed to hear that because of the way that her eyes widened slightly and her cheeks turned a bright pink.

I shrugged. "You're a fighter, not a mom," I said, meaning to comfort her.

Yeah, not so much.

Her mouth dropped open and she blinked a few times. Her eyes showed her surprise and hurt.

"I can't be both?" she asked indignantly, putting her hands on her hips and giving me a glare that anyone with half a brain would have run from.

"You think I'm a lousy mom?" She continued. "What, because I'm not girly enough, is that it?" I could tell she was really mad, her stress from the past few days fueling her anger. "Not like that girl with the red hair, stuck to you like glue!" she shouted, her hands coming up and pushing me backwards. Hard, too.

You know how earlier I was talking about having half a brain? Well I don't even have that much. In fact, you could say I am a _bird _brain. Wanna know how I know? Because instead of taking the hit and just walking away, I pushed her back.

This wouldn't have been a big deal any other time. But when she had yelled at me, she had sounded almost..._jealous._ But that was impossible. Why would Max care about me and Lissa when she had _Sam_?

She stood there, her back against the wall, breathing heavily. Her fists here clenching and unclenching at her sides she looked at me in anger and humiliation.

I stared looked at her, waiting for her to snap out of it and say some sarcastic comment. But she didn't. She just stood there, looking back at me, her deep brown eyes boring into mine.

I took a step closer, leaning in close so we were only a few inches apart. She didn't even flinch, but her eyes did flash with irritation at how much taller I was then her.

"You're girly enough," I said quietly, remembering that day on the beach. "As I recall."

Her blush deepened and I could practically _feel_ the embarrassment coming off of her. What? She had defined girly as kissing people. She had to have known I'd play the kiss-on-the-beach card sooner or later.

"And you're a great mom," I said, lightening my tone, but not my expression. "But you're only fourteen and you shouldn't have to be a mom. Give yourself ten years or so."

I walked past her, brushing her shoulder on my way by. She didn't budge an inch. It was like she was literally _frozen_ to the spot. She knew what I meant. Not the younger set as her kids, but her _own_ kids. Even though I think a bunch of mini Max's running around would not only be enough to send her over the edge, but the rest of us too.

"By the way," I called back, taking advantage of the situation to tell her about the blog. "I've started a blog. I'm using the computers at school. Against all rules, of coarse. Fang's Blog." I laughed at my originality.

"Check it out sometime... _Mom._"

* * *

**Iggy II: Very nice.**

**Me: -enters room- Thank you, but for what?**

**Iggy II: I was talking to the bear.**

**Jammies: -smiles-**

**Me: ...**

**Iggy II: So, did you find the spider.**

**Me: -sigh- No. I guess I'll have to let it live... for now.**

**Review? Or the spider may find _you._  
**


	58. Boom

**I have no school today! Hoorah!!!!! So I'll be posting a few times today. But, I'm also going to be responsible get some of my many homework assignments done...right after I post this chapter. And maybe the next....and maybe one more after that...**

**Iggy II: Why don't you just admit that you're not going to do your homework?**

**Me: Why don't you just admit that you love Santa?**

**Iggy II: I don't love Santa!**

**Me: Well maybe Santa loves you, did you ever stop to think about that?**

**Iggy II: ......What?**

**Disclaimer: Me owning Maximum Ride is like Santa and Iggy II getting together. I want it sooooo much, but it's just not meant to be. (Not that I won't push that pairing until you're all sick to death of it! :D)**

**

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**

**Fang POV**

_Boom._

Isn't that a lovely noise to wake up to? I mean really, who _doesn't _love to be woken from a good nights sleep by the sound of a piano crashing from fifty stories up and landing on the words largest gong. Or maybe a herd of elephants running through a field of motion activated robot banshees...playing trumpets.

_That's_ how loud the boom was.

And _that's _why I was not happy when I woke up.

"_Oh my, God!_" I heard Anne scream from somewhere downstairs. That was followed closely by feet rushing down the hallway.

I jumped out of bead and rushed out of the room, fully awake.

"What? What's going on?" I heard Max asking frantically from the living room. As soon as I entered the room I could tell something bad had happened. Not that the screaming and the crash weren't indicators enough.

The room was filled with settling dust and most of the furniture was pushed to the sides of the room. From the looks of things, the bomb had gone off over by the couch.

Anne was standing against one wall, her eyes so wide I thought they might pop out of her head.

The rest of the Flock ran into the room, all of them looking disheveled and panicky.

"What's happening?" Iggy asked.

"_What's happening_?" Max repeated angrily, glaring at Iggy. I hadn't seen her standing off to the side near the couch. Her tank top and plaid pajama pants were covered in soot and dust. "I thought maybe you could tell us."

"What makes you think—," he stopped suddenly, looking slowly over at Gazzy.

"Uh..._Zephyr_? Where _exactly _did you hide our...project?" he asked.

"Um..." Gazzy pursed his lips thoughtfully, walking towards the center of the room. "Right about...here." He stopped in the same spot the couch had been in a few minutes earlier.

Max stood there wide eyed, just looking at Gazzy. He was looking around, not seeming fazed by the condition of the room. Her mouth kept opening and closing, but no sound came out.

Finally Anne spoke. "What. Happened?" she asked.

"Um...that would be better determined if you told us what you were doing first," Iggy said.

Anne looked around the living room, still shocked. "I...I came into the room. The I sat on the couch," she pointed weakly to the lump in the corner. "I sat down, and felt a buldge under the cushion. I reached under it, thinking it was one of Zephyr's toy and...it just went...boom."

"Boom?" Iggy asked.

"Boom," she repeated.

"Ten days and all I get is a boom..." Iggy muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"I—_Jeff_," Max said, sounding deceptively calm. But I could see her hands shaking with anger. Uh-oh...

"Ye-yeah?" Iggy asked.

"Clean this up. You too." She pointed to Gazzy. "Then go make breakfast, clean the rest of the house, and stay out of my sight for the rest of the day."

"O-okay. I get the first ones, but why the last?" Gazzy asked.

"Because," she said, turning her glare on him. "If I see you then there is a very good chance that I will_ kill you._ Now, _clean._"

"Yes ma'am!" The two of them ran from the room and to the hall closet. The sound of buckets and bottles clanking around was the only noise in the destroyed living room.

"I'm hungry," Nudge said, yawning. I just looked at her. I swear, Erasers could have cause this mess and she would still be hungry.

"I'll get you something to tide you over till breakfast," Anne said, walking stiffly to the kitchen. Nudge and angel followed close behind, making sure to not step over the splinter pieces of what what used to be the coffee table.

That just left me and Max sanding in the middle of ground zero.

"Kids," I said. "What're you gonna do?"

Max had been facing away from me but now her head turned slowly in my direction. I almost expected it to spin all the way around, like in _The Exorcist._

"Shut. Up," she growled at me. I suddenly remembered out conversation from last night. Hm, maybe kids wasn't the best word to use...

"On the bright side," I tried again, "no one was seriously hurt."

She just sighed and shook her head. "Yeah, whatever. I'm going back to bed." She walked past me to the stairs, keeping a wide girth between us.

Great, she's still mad.

A minute or so later Gazzy and Iggy reappeared, each carrying enough cleaning supplies to start their own maid service.

"You gonna help?" Iggy asked hopefully, somehow knowing I was still there.

"Nope."

His hopeful smile turned into a scowl and he pointed to the doorway. "Then leave," he said.

I put up my hands in surrender, even though he couldn't see them. "Okay, I'm going."

I left the living room, thinking of ways to get back on Max's good side (not an easy task, even when she's in a good mood).

**I suggest waiting till later. She's sleepy, **Angel decided to give her two cents worth. Man, I might as well start calling her 'Voice'...

I just ignored her and made my way up the stairs and over to Max's room. But as I passed Gazzy's room I saw the red numbered flashing on hios alarm clock.

4: 26 am.

No wonder Max was being so moody, it was barely even morning!

I rubbed my forehead, starting to feel pretty tired myself now that my adrenaline rush had passed. I shook my head to clear it and turned around to head back to my room.

Talking to Max could wait til morning.

* * *

**Alrighty! I started typing this at...11:00 this morning. But as soon as I finished the first A/N I hit some major writers block. In the book this chapter is only half a page. **

**So I got up and walked around. That didn't help. So I watched some TV. Still no inspiration. Well, I did see a news story about a boy who people thought died in a homemade hot air balloon crash, but I didn't feel like offing Gazzy, so I canned that idea.**

**So I took a nap. And you know what happened? I had a dream. About waking up to a blown up living room. **

**And thus the Power Puff Girls were born! Um, I mean, and thus Chapter 58 was born!**

**Iggy II: That was really rambly.**

**Me: -sigh- Yes, but I guess that's the price of genius.**

**Iggy II: Sure, let's call it that. **

**RnR?  
**


	59. Something TERRIBLE

**Iggy II hates me.**

**'Why?' you ask.**

**I'll tell you.**

**It all started on my Twitter account. I was joking around and posted one saying: "Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is... YOU! Love, Iggy II."**

**As you can imagine, this did not go over well with him. So now he's mad and looking for a room to rent in the newspaper.**

**And the funny thing?**

**He thinks I'd actually let him leave.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. And it's probably best if I don't. Because if I did then Lissa would get radiation poisoning, causing her hair to turn green! Then, she'd get eaten by Spock, who would say that her existence is illogical!**

**But I digress. Back to the story.

* * *

**

**Fang POV**

The second time I woke up that morning was a lot better than the last few days. No perky Anne's, no alarm clocks, no Bambi Voice, and no bomb. Just me opening my eyes and getting out of bed. I got dressed and didn't even mind the bright colors.

Then, when I went down stairs, everyone was smiling and laughing and eating breakfast. So I sat down and started snarfing down some of the endless supply of pancakes Iggy had made.

Something terrible was going to happen.

Yeah, I know, that sounded really dramatic. But it's true, I just had a feeling that something was going on. Something bad. Something _terrible..._

"You're weird," Angel said, standing up and putting her plate in the sink. Everyone looked at her and then back at me. Max raised an eyebrow and I just shrugged. I was probably being paranoid. It just wasn't every day that things went so...smoothly. Well, I guess the bomb thing earlier could count

"Ariel, that wasn't very nice," Anne said. "Say sorry."

"Yeah, you could've hurt his feelings," Iggy said.

"You say sorry too, Jeff," she said.

"Sorry," him and Angel said together.

"Haha," I said under my breathe and I felt his leg swing past mine under the table. Haha, he missed.

"Ow," Nudge said next to me. Oops, guess Iggy hit her instead. But she wasn't glaring at him, but at Gazzy, who was seated next to him. I felt another woosh of air as she swung her leg. Gazzy gave a bit of a jump and looked up, meeting my eyes. Oh, crap...

"Max! He kicked me!" he whined, pointing at me accusingly.

"No, she did," I said, pointing at Nudge.

Nudge gasped, shocked that I would rat her out. "Only 'cause he kicked me!" she shouted.

"Actually, that was Jeff," I said. Iggy looked in my direction and glared.

"I was aiming for _you_," he said.

"And you missed. By a lot." Something smashed into my leg under the table and I winced.

"Didn't miss that time, did I?" Iggy said smuggly.

I kicked him too and he flinched. Ha! Bulls eye!

Another foot kicked me, but this time a lot harder. I would have thought it was Iggy, but we both said, "Ow!" at the same time.

"There," Max said calmly. "You're even. Now shut up and eat your food."

We both mumbled some stuff under our breathe but went back to eating, glaring at each other occasionally. But I pretty soon we were both concentrating on eating.

When we were cleaning up the table Anne came into the room, her coat already on and the car keys dangling in her left hand.

"Time to go," she said. I finished loading the dishwasher and then followed everyone outside, grabbing my backpack on the way out the door.

The car ride there happened without incident. And we got out of the car without getting shot at or jump by Erasers.

Instead, we were instantly swallowed by a mob of kids all moving towards a parking lot full of tour busses.

"Whoa!" Iggy said, as someone bumped into him, causing him to spin in a full circle.

I looked around and saw that Nudge and Gazzy had found their way out of the group, and were walking together towards where their classes were standing. And Angel was already climbing the steps of one bus, talking amiable to the girl in front of her.

And Max was...no where. What the heck? I did a quick 360, hoping she hadn't been take, but then spotted her by a pale girl. Max didn't look like she wanted to kill her or anything, so I assumed she was okay. I turned back to Iggy, about to ask him if he knew what was going.

And saw that he had disappeared.

Oh crap. I lost the blind guy.

I don't know what was worse, that I had lost my brother, or the fact that I was only worried because I didn't want Max to kill me.

"Iggy?" I said under my breath, not moving my lips. If he was nearby then he'd hear me, but no one else could. But after a few minutes of pushing through the crowd, I still hadn't found him.

"You look lost," Ana observed, appearing out of no where.

"Ya think?" I said, looking around again, hoping to see him.

"She's probably already on one of the busses," she said.

"Who?" I asked, not really paying attention.

She gave me a confused look. "Lis—," she cut herself short, looking around us. A look of realization crossed her face. "Oh my, God. You lost, Jeff," she said.

"No," I said. She just looked at me, one eyebrow raised. "Okay, I lost him. But only a little."

"Where would you be without me," she said. I gave her a confused look and she pointed to out left. I saw two people standing in a sea of third graders. One of them was Iggy, and the other was a tall, skinny girl. She was about Max's height and had short blond hair with brown streaks. Her and Iggy stood out like soar thumbs sense they were surrounded by a bunch little kids that weren't even half their heights.

"Aw," Ana said. "He's got a girlfriend. You know, you should go over there and embarrass him."

I looked at her. "Why?"

She shrugged. "I think it'd be funny."

Okaaaay.

"And you know, now that he's hanging with Tess," She pointed to the tall girl, "he can't bug you about Lissa."

I was quiet for a minute, just watching as Tess pulled Iggy over to where our English class was waiting. She was talking to him and he was smiling like the big idiot that he was.

I smiled. I was so not going to leave him alone about this.

"Well that's an evil smile," Ana said. I chuckled lightly and started walking towards Iggy. He was probably pretty lost, so I decided to let him know I was around. I walked casually by the two, brushing his jacket lightly. He nodded slightly in my direction.

I waited until the teacher had called Tess over before I went over to Iggy. He had a confused look on his face, almost a deer-in-the-headlight sort of look.

"You're slayin' 'em, big guy," I said.

He glared at me, but the affect was countered by his blush. Oh, I was never going to let him live this down.

"Ass," he grumbled. Then more clearly, "Where were you?"

"Watching you," I said as we moved with the rest of out class to a bus.

"So you just left me to fend on my own?" he demanded.

"It was an accident...at first. You were fun to watch."

He continued to glare at nothing in particular.

"So," I asked. "Who was she?"

He mumbled something.

"What was that?" I teased.

"Tess," he said. We had finally made it onto the bus and we went towards the back. There was an empty seat next to an emergency door. Perfect.

I sat down and Iggy sat next to me.

"What were talking about?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"You were smiling a lot for it to be nothing," I observed.

"She's tall," he said.

"You talked about her height?" I asked.

"Among other things," he said. He was slowly slipping down in his spot, his feet stretching under the seat in front of us.

"Do you love her?" Nudge asked, leaning over the back of our bench seat.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. She wasn't in our grade, much less our class.

"My bus was full," she said innocently. "So they sent a few of us to other busses. I'm sitting with a friend."

"Who's that?" Iggy asked, seeming relived that the subject had been moved off of him...for now.

"Me." And guess who leaned over the back of the seat next? Yep, Ana. Sometimes I wonder why I trust her.

"Of coarse," I muttered.

"Shut up," she said. "I'm helping." She turned back to Iggy and smiled evilly. "Now we have the whole ride to DC to talk about you and _Tess._"

And that's exactly what they did. _The entire ride._ Her and Nudge asked question after question. Iggy's face was as red as Elmo, and we weren't even half way there.

The down side? I had no idea what we were half way _to._ I had tried asking the girls, but they just hushed me so they could here Iggy, yet again, retell his three minute conversation with Tess.

I tried looking out the window, but it had gotten fogged up. I rubbed a small circle in the condensation and looked out. There was another bus driving along side us, about ten feet away. And guess who was looking out the window right across form mine?

Max.

She smiled and waved through her little bubble of non-fogged glass. I waved back.

She smiled again and wrote 'hi' in the condensation. I smiled slightly and did the same. The rest of the trip was spent with me and her just writing random things every once in a while. Sometimes I'd listen to Ana and Nudge as they interrogated Ig, but that would get boring fast. At one point I drew a tic-tac-toe bored and Max did the same. We played that for a little bit, rewriting each others moves. But soon we I only had a little stretch of space left, so I wrote, "Where are we going?"

Max took a second to read it backwards, then drew a little box with the letters 'WH' on top. I cocked an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes, pointing towards the front of the bus. I followed the direction of her finger and looked between our busses and down the long road we were driving on.

There, at the end of a long stretch of buildings and trees, was a tall white building. It was flat and white with lots of pillars.

The White House.

* * *

**Okey-Dokey! I couldn't think of much to do with that. But I did do as I promised and updated twice. And I also based Tess off of Leah (so now she can stop bugging me about it). It got sort of rambly though. I just sort of ran out of ideas.**

**Oh, and the drawing-on-the-window-with-other-people thing _is _possible. I did it with a friend once.**

**Hope you liked it. I'll probably only post once tomorrow. I have a science project I have to do. :(  
**

**Reviwers Welcome.**

**(And I didn't go through and edit this one, or the last. So sorry for errors.)  
**


	60. Mr President

**Have I ever told you how much I love you guys? I mean really, chapter 60 and I already have 400 reviews. Coming into this I would have been happy if I got 200 after everything. Or even just a review per chapter. But now...now I...-tear-**

**Iggy II: -rolls eyes-  
**

**Me: Hey! Nuh-uh! Get out of my A/N!**

**Iggy II: Why?**

**Me: Because! I don't let betraying OC's into my A/N's!**

**Jammies: -nods-**

**Iggy II: Okay. -leaves-**

**Me: ... No! I was joking! Come back! -runs after Iggy-

* * *

**

**Fang POV**

"Echo!" Iggy said for the _millionth _time that afternoon.

"You do know it's not echoing, right?" I asked him.

"Oh, it's echoing. Your normal mutant ears just aren't strong enough."

Sigh. "Whatever, just shut up." Iggy had been obsessed over the size of the rooms here (which was huge) and kept experimenting on which one had the best echo. So far the Presidential China room was winning.

Iggy smiled and walked off in a random direction, probably hoping that Tess would come save him from being lost.

We were at our last stop of the day, and the one everyone had been waiting for. The White House. We had been to the Capitol building and the Vietnam Wall already, both of which had been pretty cool. The Wall was a little depressing though. I mean, it's a ginormous black stone with nothing but dead peoples names on it. You're bound to feel a little depressed.

But the Capitol had been cool. We watched a movie about how the Founding Fathers first planned out our government, followed by a short tour and then finally being able to see the Constitution. The paper had looked old and fragile, like if you poked it it would turn to dust. But I'm pretty sure there weren't a lot of people who handled the Constitution, much less poked it.

And so here we were, at the main event. The White House. The home of the leader of the free world. And let me tell you, he was living the good life. We had passed through maybe only a fourth of the rooms here, and that was still more than two of Anne's house put together. And the rooms themselves were pretty spectacular. All big and fancy, with thick curtains hanging in front of six-foot window and intricately carved tables and desks in every room. And they weren't just white like you'd imagine. Some were red or blue or green. There was even one that was a bright purplish color.

But eventually they started to run together, looking almost identical to the one before it or a room that we'd been in a few minutes ago. And the armed guards that were at every entrance had been reassuring at first, but now they were starting to make me nervous. I'd just have to make sure to keep my guard up.

So I was relieved when our tour guide, a short round woman named 'Donna', called for our attention and then said, "We will now be moving into the last room of the tour, and then you will get a few minutes in the visitor's center. That also includes the gift shop for anyone who was interested on purchasing a souvenir."

I sighed in relief and looked around the room. I saw Iggy over by a large wooden cabinet, Tess standing next to him (of course). I guessed she was describing things to him by the way he was nodding every once in a while.

"Hey," a voice from behind me said. I turned around to see Lissa there, her red hair almost blending in with the wall behind her.

"Hey," I said back. She smiled at me and then glanced at our group, which was slowly making it's way into the next area.

"Mind if I walk with you?" she asked.

"Sure." She smiled and I turned to follow our class, but something pull at the end of my arm. I looked down to see Lissa's small ivory hand in mine.

We were holding hands.

She smiled at me again and then started pulling me towards the doorway and I followed, still a little confused as to what I was supposed to do now.

But I shouldn't have worried, because she filled what would have been awkward silence with comfortable conversation. She told me about how she had an older brother (Tyler) and a step-father (Jeff). How she used to live in Washington state before Jeff transferred jobs and then moved her and her mom to Virginia. She had two cats and a dog named Izzy.

"Izzy's a total attention hog," she said, as our guide talked about 'the many great compromises' made in the dining hall we were standing in.

"My sister has dog. He's the same way," I said. It was weird, I didn't feel so strange talking to her like I had in the beginning. **(A/N: -gag-)**

"Which sister?" she asked.

"Ariel."

"Oh she's a cutey," she said adoringly. I bet she wouldn't be saying that if she ever saw Angel's dark side...

"Mr. Ride, Ms. Challfant?" Our teacher called to us. We turned to see Mrs. K tapping her foot impatiently in the doorway we had entered the room from. I noticed that the rest of the class had already left. Huh, you'd think I would have noticed that.

"Coming Mrs. Kesler," Lissa called back to her. She started walking forward, pulling me by the hand that was still in her hers.

"No PDA you two," Mrs. K said in a warning tone as we entered what I assumed was the gift shop. There were post cards and books and trinkets everywhere.

Lissa giggled nervously as our teacher disappeared into the crowd. I didn't get it though. I didn't even have a PDA, much less was I using one.

"Oh, Nick, look!" Lissa said happily, pulling me over to a display of snow globes. Some had mini White Houses in them and others had the Lincoln memorial, Capitol building, or a bunch of other landmarks that we hadn't seen on the field trip today.

"Isn't this cute?" she asked, holding up one with a teddy bare dressed like Lincoln.

"Yeah." If you were seven.

"I think I'm gonna get it. Wait for me?" I nodded and she skipped off to the check out counter where a bored looking man was sitting, flipping through a 'History of DC' magazine.

I looked over the shelves and cracked my fingers. They had gotten cramped after all the times Lissa had squeezed my hand when she saw something 'cute' or 'amazing'.

I saw a flash of gold and turned to see Angel sneaking away from her teacher. I called to her in my head and she looked up at me. I raised an eyebrow and she smiled innocently, walking back to her group. She kept glancing back at me, looking annoyed that I was still watching her.

Hm. Suspicious.

"I got it," Lissa said, walking up to me again. I looked away from Angel for only a second to see she was standing there with a little white plastic bag that had a cartoon drawing of the White House on it.

"Cool," I said, looking back at Angel. But she had already disappeared.

Hm. _Very _suspicious.

The next few minutes were spent just walking around. Nothing bad happened, and I didn't see Angel again.

In fact, I hadn't seen Angel _at all_ after I'd seen her being all Ninja by the gift shop.

I took advantage of a lull in the conversation with Lissa to scan the room. Nudge and Gazzy were running up and down the book isles, laughing and humming the national anthem.

Max was standing a few feet away, scanning the room herself. I noticed that she was pointedly not looking in my direction. Strange...

Next I saw Iggy still talking to Tess. They were petting some scarves and laughing. It looked like he was doing okay.

But where was Angel...

"So anyway, do you think I should have said something to her or what?" Lissa asked. Oops, probably should have been paying attention.

Luckily I was saved by a familiar dirty blond walking up to us.

"Excuse me," Max said, interrupting Lissa as she was repeating her question. Lissa didn't look mad or anything. In fact, she looked _happy _to see Max. But by the set of Max's jaw and the way her eyes were hard and unreadable, I'd have to say the feeling wasn't mutual.

"I don't see An— Ariel," she said, looking me dead in the eyes. I could see the panic starting to leak through her shields.

I scanned the room again, seeing the rest of the Flock, including Iggy, searching around the room. Max must have told them that she couldn't find Angel.

"You're Nick's sister, right?" I heard Lissa ask.

"Uh-huh," Max said in a annoyed tone. What was up with her?

I couldn't see Angel anywhere so I looked back at Max. "I'll go look," I said.

She sent one last glance at Lissa and then followed after me.

There were three entrances to the room, each with an armed guard. How the hell had she managed to get by those guys?

Then I remembered that I had seen her only a few minutes ago. But when I looked she wasn't with her class. Maybe she was in the bathroom or something.

As I was thinking this Max tugged on my sleeve. I turned to see her pointing towards the crowd in front of us. It was parting to make a little isle that lead up to us.

And walking down the middle of it was none other than Angel, an innocent smile on her face and Celeste hanging from her left hand. She was smiling and looked unharmed.

But what caught my eye the most was who was walking beside her.

The president.

Oh, God. What has she done?

Max's jaw dropped and I had to try hard not to do the same. But I still felt a look of shock slide onto my face. I mean come on, my little sister was holding hands with the president of the United States. And there was a strong possibility that she was playing puppet master with said political leader.

"Hi, Max," she said sweetly. "I got lost. Mr Danning brought me back."

"Hi, uh, Ariel," Max said weakly. She looked up at the president. "Uh, thanks. Sir," she added.

He smiled warmly and said, "No problem. Your sister knew you'd be worried. You've got yourself a remarkable little girl here."

Yeah, remarkably creepy. And troublesome. How could she have gotten lost when she was in a room with everybody else only five minutes ago. But as usual, she looked sweet and innocent.

Like that ever fooled me.

"Yes, we certainly do," Max said, slipping into Mature Leader mode. "Thank you for finding her. And bringing her back."

Angel's teacher was going crazy. She kept shaking President Danning's hand and saying thank you and Mr. President every other word.

"My pleasure," he said. Then he leaned done and smiled at Angel. "You take care now," he said. "Don't go getting lost anymore."

"I won't," she said, nodding. "Thanks for finding me."

He patted her head before turning and waving to the crowd. He then left the room, a group of men in black suits following close behind.

Everyone was watching us, and Max bent down to be eye level with Angel. She put a fake smile on, but I could still hear her talking through it.

"I can't believe this," she said. "Are you okay?"

Angel nodded. "I was worried," she said in a small voice, "'cause I looked up and my whole class was gone. So I went down a hall, and then another, and then the president met me. But nothing weird happened. None of those guys turned into Erasers or anything."

Max's shoulder's relaxed in relief and the crowd started turning away, going back to what they were doing before.

"Okaaay," Max said. "Just stick close from now on. I don't want to lose you again."

"Okay, Max," she said, taking her hand.

As we walked back to the rest of the Flock I thought to her, _You better have a good reason for lieing to Max. _She hadn't gotten lost from her class, she had left. I had seen her trying to leave only a few minutes ago.

Angel looked back at me and smiled evilly.

**You'll see, **she answered.

Oh, God.

* * *

**Okay, this was the second time in like three days that I typed a chapter and then lost it. This time however it's because the cord got pulled out of my computer. Luckily, half the chapter was already saved. So I only had to do a little bit.**

**Iggy II: Angel seemed a little evil, don't you think?**

**Me: Eh. She is evil. Fang is just more aware of it early on.**

**Oh! And guess what? Iggy's staying!**

**Iggy II: Yeah, yeah, whatever. Only 'cause you begged.**

**Me: I didn't beg. You stayed because you love me!**

**Iggy II: Uh-huh, sure. Keep telling yourself that.**

**Me: Okay. IGGY II LOVES ME! IGGY II LOVES ME! IGGY II LOVES ME!**

**Iggy II: -sigh- And to think I could be in Tahiti by now...**

**Review?  
**


	61. A Latino Zac Efron

**Greetings. Now before I begin, I want to address a question that was asked yesterday. And that was how so many things seemed to get by Max unnoticed. And yes, I admit, Fang has to have to deal with a lot of stuff in this story that Max doesn't mentioned in the books. But there is a simple explanation for that.**

**Fang is Ninja.**

**And ninjas know all.**

**So there you have it. The glorious reasoning behind Fang's many previously unmentioned adventures.**

**Also, forgot the disclaimer for last chapter, so I'm going to disclaim both of them now. It's your classic two bird, one stone situation. (That line was from _Paul Blart: Mall Cop_)  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride now, nor did I own it last chapter. And I probably won't own it next chapter. But we'll just have to wait and see.

* * *

**

**Fang POV**

**Welcome to Fang's Blog!**

**You are visitor: __  
**

Yo.

So today was different. Instead of running away from a bunch of people with guns, we went to a big building full of them.

The White House.

So why were a bunch of bird kids at the home of our nation's leader, you ask? Well, I can't tell you. But I can assure you we weren't there to mess with the president.

At least _most _of us weren't.

So we got to go on one of the tours and learn about it's history. Nudge even convinced Max to let her get a t-shirt that had a cartoon of a donkey and an elephant on it. The purpose of the animals? I'm not sure if there is one. But Nudge thinks that there is some deeper meaning to it all, and has been sitting in her room just starring at the shirt for about an hour.

And it has been the quietest hour of my life.

And guess what nifty little trick Angel decided to pull today? If you guessed being normal, then no. But if you guessed meeting the president himself, then you would be right.

I really hope she didn't mess with his head. This country is a mess enough.

Max has been sort of cranky lately. And it's just towards me. Iggy says it's PMS. I think she just needs a nap. But neither one of us is stupid enough to ask her. We're trying to get Gazzy to do it.

Well, there's not much more to type. So I might as well answer the only two replies I got. (I hear that's a lot for a first post. Go me)

**DannyMan: **Yes, I am serious. I do have wings. And no, I can not post a picture of them. Not because I don't want to, just because I can barely operate this computer, much less a camera. So if I ever do learn how, I'll show you. But till then, imagine Taylor Lautner with fourteen foot, pitch black wings growing out of his back. And that's me.

**ChicaSociable92: **What do I look like? Well I think the description above was pretty spot on.

So...yeah. That's about it. I don't really know where to start on the explanation of my amazingly messed up past. So if anyone's reading this, ask a question. I'll try to answer.

Fly On (wow, that sounded really badass, I should use it more often),

Fang

* * *

After I posted the entry I sat back in my chair. I had moved the computer from Anne's office into the kitchen; it was just too cold upstairs.

"_Taylor Lautner_?" Gazzy asked, reading over my shoulder.

"What?" I asked. We looked alike... sorta.

"Well, it's just...isn't he strong?"

I looked at him.

"And funny?"

I scowled at him.

"And cool?"

I glared at him.

"And—," I clamped a hand over his mouth before he could continue. I didn't have anything worse than a glare that wouldn't kill him.

"I get it," I said. When I pulled my hand away he smiled.

"And don't girls like him?" he added.

"Girls like me," I said, turning back to the computer.

"Like who?" he asked.

"Angel. Nudge," I said.

"Like, _like _like," he clarified, though that explanation was anything but clear.

"Lissa," I said.

"The red head?" he asked.

"Yep."

"She doesn't like you. She's too pretty."

"We go together," I said.

"So, you're pretty?" See? There's another reason I don't talk. It always just gets me in trouble.

"No, I'm—," he didn't let me finish.

"Fang's pretty!" Gazzy shouted, nearly busting my eardrums. Anne wasn't home so it was okay to use my real name. But I was still pissed.

"Good to know," Max said, walking into the room. She didn't meet my eye when I looked at her, and instead turned to the fridge. "What're you two doing?" she asked as she rummaged around on a lower shelf. "Besides talking about Fang's looks."

"Fang put on his blog thing that he looks like Taylor Lautner. You know, that guy from Twilight." Gazzy explained before I could stop him.

Max looked over her shoulder at me, for the first time meeting my gaze. She looked at me for a moment, then shook her head.

"No," she said, standing up with a soda. "He's way hotter."

"Why thank you, Max," I said.

She froze and the back of her next turned red. Interesting reaction. I'll have to put that in my files...

"I meant Taylor's hotter, not you," she muttered.

"Sure you did," I said, and the Gasman started cracking up.

Max looked at him for a second, then back at me. "Please don't turn him into another Iggy," she said.

"I'll try..." I trailed off doubtfully and she rolled her eyes. She opened her soda and leaned on the opposite side of the counter then me.

"Did you do your homework?" she asked a still snickering Gazzy. He shook his head and then ran off, most likely to watch TV than to do his work.

"I was looking over the papers earlier..." she said after a few minutes, and I gave her a look that said "go on".

"...and came up with nothing."

I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Who has them now?" I asked.

"Nudge. She discovered what the shirt meant, so now she believes that she can do anything. Including crack the code."

"Bit of a jump," I commented.

"Yep. Somehow I don't think the answer is going to be as simple as political parties." I raised an eyebrow, asking what she meant. But she just shook her head.

"Long story," she said, and I nodded, still confused.

There was a long silence. But it was comfortable. I swung the bar stool I was on from side to side, going in a small ark. Max stayed leaning against the counter, sipping her soda occasionally.

"So...." she said.

"So...." I repeated.

"...Taylor Lautner?" she asked a second. I gave her a small half smile.

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked.

"Well, you look nothing like him," she said.

I blinked, feining shock. "Then who _do _I look like?"

"Let's see..." she searched my face, taking in every detail. And it actually made me a little self-conscious.

"A Latino Zach Efron," she said finally.

I nearly choked. And I wasn't even eating anything.

"What?" I asked, raising my voice a little in surprise.

"Like, Zach Efron with black hair and darker eyes," she said. I really hope she wasn't trying to comfort me, 'cause if she was then she was doing a crap job at it.

I kept my face blank but she was still able to see my disapproval of her choice. Damn her.

"How about... a young John Stamos?" she offered.

"From _Full House_? The one with the mullet?"

"No, a _young _John Stamos. You know, pre-mullet."

I just looked at her.

"What?" she asked, sounding defensive. "Most people would take that as a compliment!"

"Like who?" I asked.

She just shook her head. "Whatever," she said, pushing away from the counter, "I think he's cute."

She started to turn around but stopped suddenly, realizing what she had just implied. If she thought I looked like John, and that John was cute, then that means...

"Why Maxie," I said. "You're just full of compliments today."

She turned to glare at me and I smirked, letting one side of my mouth quirk up.

Her face reddened slightly when I smirked, but something told me it wasn't completely out of anger.

"I'm going to my room," she mumbled, crushing her empty soda can in one hand and then throwing in the trash. She then turned and left the room quickly, her blush deepening the whole time.

As I turned back to the computer, I thought about Max. She was changing, acting different. Sometimes it was funny, and sometimes it was down right weird.

But luckily, it seemed to be more of the first.

* * *

**Okay, I dedicate this chapter to Google; without whom I would have never found that pictures of Zach Efron with black hair and a tan. Not that his one time likeness to Fang makes him any less annoying.**

**And for anyone who's never seen John Stamos: look him up! You will love him, mullet and all.**

**Iggy II: Are you done talking about boys?**

**Me: Are you done talking about Santa?**

**Iggy II: I wasn't talking about Santa.**

**Me: Haha! You just said his name!**

**Iggy II: Yeah but only because**—** oh never mind.**

**Review? I'll give you a cookie...**


	62. VirginApple and Hunky Werewolfness

**Iggy II: -announcer voice- Today we have started a new award for this fanfiction. It'd called the Cookies. We give a cookie whenever there is a review that we feel needs to be recognized for it's... -looks at script- I'm not saying that.**

**Me: Do it or I'll get Jammies.**

**Iggy II: -sigh- ...for it's "fantabulous-ness".**

**Me: Good boy! And the Cookie goes to... randombookworm! For their brilliant idea of adding Santa to the A/Ns! (I'm gonna wait for closer to the holidays though)  
**

**Iggy II: Oh yeas. Santa. Wonderful...**

**Me: Oh shush. And cyber cookies to everyone else who reviewed!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. And I only half own my icon 'cause I traced some of it.

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**

**Fang POV**

"Flock meeting in Nudge's room," Max said, walking swiftly past my room. I set down my History textbook and walked out into the hall. She had already disappeared somewhere around the corner, so I just made my way to find the others.

"What's up?" I asked when I got into Nudge's room. She was sitting on her bed, almost bouncing with excitement. Iggy was in a chair in the corner, running his fingers lightly over the armrest.

"I broke the code. Well, I think I did. I hope I did," she said, her excitedly turning to doubt. But then she smiled and resumed bouncing.

I nodded and lifted the left corner of my mouth. My version of a congratulatory pat on the back.

"Okay," Max said, walking into the room. Angel and Gazzy ran in behind her, both of them flopping onto Nudge's bed. "Do tell," Max said, leaning against the closet door.

Nudge stood up and went to stand in front of her desk. She waited a second before starting, probably planning out her speech.

"I think it's from a book," she said happily, moving her hands in the air as she spoke. "I mean, okay, it could be some computerized code, in which case we'll never break it. But I think they want us to break it — want _you _to break it," she looked at Max, "as part of your testing."

"Yeah, I guess I'm failing this particular test," Max said bitterly.

"Not yet," Nudge continued. "There's still a couple of things we haven't tried. Like if the numbers all relate back to a book."

"Which book?" Iggy asked.

"A big book, with lots of words. A book that wouldn't be hard to find," she went on. "Something all over the place, that a lot of people have."

Guinness Book of World Records?

"_The Da Vinci Code?_" Gazzy guessed.

Iggy made a pained expression. "No," he said in a 'duh' voice. Well then, Mr. Blind-Brainiac, please tell us people of a normal IQ what the answer is.

"Like the Bible, nimrod." He said. I still think I had a good idea... "It's everywhere. In hotels, people's houses, schools. It's something Max could find easily. Right, Nudge?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding.

"I don't understand," Angel said. It's sort of sad when the mind reader doesn't know where you're going with something.

"Like, there's strings of numbers, right? It would be like what Fang saw in the maps." And hopefully this will work a bit better. "But now one number is a book, another is a chapter, another is a verse, and another would be one word from that verse. Then you take all the words and see what they add up to."

"Huh," Max said, thinking. "Do we have a Bible here?"

Nudge reached under her desk and pulled out a thick, hard cover book. There was some gold script on the front, but aside from that the book was plain.

"Anne had one downstairs," she said casually, leafing through the pages. "I'm borrowing it. Trying to strengthen my relationship with the Lord."

And so our night began. Max and Nudge went back and forth reading out words. The rest of us would write them down and try to find some sort of pattern. But even an hour in, we still weren't finding anything.

"Hey, kids," Anne said, peeking into the room a little after the two hour mark. It was around 10:30, and the kids were getting tired. Angel had already given up and was sleeping with her head resting on Max's lap. "Time for bed."

Nudge and Gazzy nodded, too tired to argue. Nudge crawled into her bed and the rest of us left, Max staying a few seconds to tuck her in.

"Come on, sweetie," she said to Angel once she shut Nudge's door. "I'll go put you to bed."

She nodded and held her arms out for Max to pick her up. Once she did, Max walked down the hallway to Angel's room.

"Fang," Gazzy said, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "I'm tired."

I nodded, putting a hand on his shoulder and guiding him to his room. I turned on the light and waited by the doorway as the Gasman changed out of his jeans and then hopped into bed. "G'night Fang," he mumbled, closing his eyes.

"Night, Gaz," I said, shutting the door. I looked down the hall to see Max and Iggy waiting by my room, the papers still in their hands.

"You wanna keep goin' or call it a night?" Max asked when I reached them.

I shrugged and looked at Iggy. He sensed me looking him and shrugged also. "Fine by me," he said.

"Okay then," Max said, putting her hand on the doorknob to my room. But before she went in she looked up at me. "Mind if we use your room? It's farthest from the kids, so we won't have to whisper."

"Well..." I said, pretending to have to think about it.

"What? Afraid we're gonna 'pop your crib'?" she asked, quoting the crack heads from a few days ago.

I gave her a half smile and nodded. As we walked in Iggy looked confused.

"Since when is Max gangsta?" he asked me.

"Never," I said.

He laughed and Max gave me a weak glare, but I knew she didn't mean it.

"I'll read first," she said, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. For some reason, she always refused to sit on furniture in my room. Maybe she thought I had cooties.

Iggy on the other hand was quite comfortable and leaned against the head board of my bed, his feet dangling off the side. I just sat at my desk chair and put a pen to paper, waiting for Max to start.

"Here we go..."

The next two hours were just the like the first. We got word after word, but nothing ever made sense. Though Iggy started snickering like mad when five of the words in order were: Virgin. Thy. Name. Be. Apple.

"What?" Max asked him.

"Oh, nothing," he said between laughs. I had to admit, it was funny. But it was _guy _funny. Max wouldn't get it.

"Whatever," she said, shaking her head. She read out words for about another twenty minutes, but by then it was already midnight, and the Virgin/Apple thing was as close to real sentence as we had gotten all day.

"Maybe it's the wrong version of the Bible," I said tiredly. "There are different versions."

"This is the King James," Iggy said, rubbing his hair out of his face. "The most common one in America."

"And what do we have?" Max asked, rolling her shoulders. Her wings were poking out of the back of her t-shirt, the arks just visible over her shoulders.

I looked down at my notes, deciding to start after apple. "_Thou. Upon. Fasting. Round. Always. Saul. Dwell. Fruit. Affliction. Didst. Delight. Dwell_ again."

She frowned, shaking her head in frustration. "Nothing," she said, sounding tired and annoyed. "No pattern, no meaning. The Bible was a great idea, but maybe we're doing it wrong."

There was a pause where we just sort of sat there, no one knowing what to say.

"So I guess we just kiss the world good-bye," I said, in my lighter, not as obvious version of sarcasm.

She gave me a look. "So funny," she said. "You're quite the wit."

I felt my lips twitch slightly in a smug grin. "The ladies like it."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a fine example of why I'm an idiot.

Iggy fell over laughing like I knew he would, immediately understanding the guy funniness. But Max, being a girl and all, just looked at me in disgust. She didn't even blush like I would have expect after she'd been acting the last few days. Instead she just huffed and shook her head at me. She then stood up, letting the Bible slip out of her lap and the papers flutter to the ground.

"I'm beat. See you in the morning," she grumbled, leaving without even looking back at us. We didn't even stack fists before she left.

Great. Now, what could I say. Sorry? Nooooo. That would be the _smart_ thing to do. And this is me, remember? So I chose something stupid and pointless.

"I don't suppose you took a look at my blog yet?" I called lamely after her, leaning towards the door so my voice would carry without me having to shout.

There was no reply, just the sound of her footsteps on the hardwood floor and eventually the sound of her door shutting.

Iggy was still laying on my bed, snickering occasionally.

"So Mr. Lady's Man, when do you suppose you'll be able to use your charm to get you _out _of trouble?" he asked, leaning his head back so that he was looking at me upside down.

"With Max? Never." It was strange. I was starting to get used to being seen as "cute" or "hot". But then I come home to Max who treats me no differently than she would anyone else. I guess it's because we've grown up together. I mean, it's hard to think of someone as hot when you've seen them beaten and bloody and on the brink of death more times then you can remember.

"What if she was drunk?" Iggy asked, glancing up (which was techniqually down since he was hanging off the side of my bed) and looking thoughtful.

"Iggy. No matter how good of an idea it may seem now, a drunken Max would not be fun."

"I simply asked 'what if'. I never said I was planning on spiking her root beer." He smiled suddenly, but then cleared his face. Like he fooled me.

"Don't," I warned, picking up mine and Max's papers and putting them into a stack.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because, that could have one of two outcomes. One, she's relaxed and then sobers up and kicks your butt. Or two, she's too drunk to control her anger, beats you, sobers up, and then beats you again." Wow. That was lot coming from me. I guess this was just an interesting topic.

He rolled his eyes, a strange look when you're upside down. "Whatever. You'll just have to distract her with your hunky werewolf-ness."

I scowled. That's the last time I ever let Gazzy proof read my blog entries.

I went over to the side of my bed and picked his papers up off the floor. He heard me moving around and got off the bed, going to my door.

"Night, Ig," I said, stuffing the files back into my backpack.

"G'night, Taylor," he said. I turned but he was gone before I could get to him.

Oh well. As long as he wasn't calling me Zac.

* * *

**About half way through the last part I had a flashback to that episode of Scrubs where they sing Guy Love. I love that song. And someone even did a Max Ride remake of it. Amazing.**

**Iggy II: Can you _please_ turn off the computer? I can't go to sleep with you typing so loudly.**

**Me: Oh whatever. **

**Review?**

**And sorry I've been posting so late in the day. I've had ton of homework and this the only time I can do it.  
**


	63. I'm Gonna Be Mad At Fang Now

**Yo peeps! Look! I'm typing while the sun's still out! It's a miracle!**

**Iggy II: I can actually get some sleep tonight...**

**Me: Maybe. It depends on if you behave.**

**Iggy II: Behave...badly?**

**Me: No. Behave...goodly.**

**Iggy II: Goodly?**

**Me: Yes, goodly. Now, silency.  
**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Maximum Ride then my screen name would be: JPpwnsALL. But it isn't, so I don't.

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**

**Fang POV**

"Yo, Fang?" Iggy said, walking up to me once lunch was over.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Mind pointing me in the direction of Tess?" he asked.

"Why? So she can see you run into a locker?"

He scowled at me. "No. I'll just stand in place and look lost. The lost-blind-guy act always works," he said, nodding his head knowledgeably.

"Ig, you _are _a lost blind guy," I pointed out.

"I'm not lost," he said.

I grinned evilly and said, "Hey, look. There's Tess. Have fun." I patted him on the shoulder, then started walking away, him calling after me the whole time.

Eh, he'd be fine. Tess really had been standing only a few yards away, so her blind-guy-in-need senses would be tingling any second now.

I went down the halls, not really looking for anything, but not caring where I was going either. I guess I'm just a free spirit that way...

I came around a corner and entered a hallway with lockers on either side. A few feet away I saw Max fiddling with one, her brow furrowing in frustration.

I smirked slightly, slowly walking around the corner. I walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder, holding my breath so she wouldn't hear me breathing. One of her hands was moving clumsily over the dial while the other held it and a piece of paper in place. The paper had small black numbers on it, probably her combination.

"Damn," she muttered, yanking the lock down hard to no avail.

"Language, Max," I said, still leaning over her shoulder. She jumped and spun around, a hand over her heart.

When she saw it was me she glared, her surprised expression disappearing in an instant.

"Make some noise when you move," she said, turning back to her locker.

"But that wouldn't be _nearly _as fun," I said, leaning against the locker next to hers.

She grumbled something that sounded like, "Bet the ladies like that too,", but I wasn't sure.

"Want me to try?" I asked, pushing her hands off the lock before she even answered. I took the combination and read over the numbers, only taking a few seconds to remember them.

I slowly turned the dial to the left, then the right, and the right again. I turned to Max and gave her a triumphant look, then pulled the lock down.

To have nothing happen. It stayed where it was.

Max clapped and nodded her head. "Brilliant," she said. "Simply genius."

I narrowed my eyes at her, then the little metal trinket at hand. I glanced again at the paper, thinking it had the wrong numbers on it. But I noticed another little detail.

"Uh, Max?" I said as she pushed me out of the way.

"Hang on, I think I've got it," she said, biting on her lower lip as she concentrated.

"But—," she waved me off and I sighed. She was so hard headed sometimes.

I turned to the locker I had been leaning against earlier and turned the dial, following the numbers on the sheet. I could sense Max watching me out of the corner of her eye, but I kept mine on the lock.

_Click._

I opened the door and turned back to her, holding up the paper as she gaped at me.

"Wrong locker," I said.

She looked at me, then her locker, then the one she'd _thought _was her locker, and back again.

"I hate you," she grumbled as she started grabbing books and shoving them into her backpack. As she took out a math textbook a piece of paper fell to the ground. I swiftly snatched it in mid flight and unfolded it. In Max's neat script were the words, 'ter Bortch'. Why did that sound familiar?

I turned the scrap so she could see it and raised an eyebrow.

She looked at it, then up at me. "It's one of the words that we found in the coded sheets. I was researching it the other day," she said, whispering towards the ends as a group of eighth graders walked by. "Didn't I tell you about it?" she asked once they were gone.

I shook my head.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, then stopped, her cheeks reddening. She seemed to be remembering something, but shook her head. I kept my expression blank, though I was puzzled by what had just happened.

She mumbled something and then took the paper from my hand.

"Ter Bortch," she said, "is a name. Of a scientist. A, _genetic,_ scientist. He was arrested for doing illegal experimentation on—," she stopped again as a teacher walked by. She looked at us suspiciously and stopped across the halls from us, examining a post on the wall. But I could tell she was trying to eavesdrop.

"Here," Max said, handing me a printed out web article. "That's all about him. I have to go," she said the last part in a bit of a rush.

"Where?" I asked casually, though I was curious.

She looked back at me, searching my face for something. I guess she found it, because the strange look left her face and she shrugged. "Nu— Tiffany-Krystal is helping me with some research. Wanna come?" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the library. The teacher seemed satisfied that we weren't up to anything and left.

I was about to say yes, but then Lissa and a group of her friends came around the corner. She smiled and waved me over. When looked back at Max, I saw she was looking at Lissa, that strange look back on her face. A look which lately meant "I think I'm going to mad at Fang now." So I held up a finger to Lissa and to Max said, "Tell me what you find."

As I walked off with Lissa's group, I glanced back at Max. I was expecting her to look like herself now that I (the apparent inducer of her odd behavior) was gone. But she looked slightly sad, and turned away from me, going in the opposite direction.

What the hell? One minute we're being all jokey and crap, the next she's moody, and then when I try to leave her be, I just make things worse!

Either she's hormonal as hell...

...Or there's something she's not telling me.

* * *

**I hate this chapter. In fact, I hate all the chapters where they're at the school. Now the _other _School, I could write them there. More adventure, more action.**

**Less Lissa.**

**Iggy II: Didn't you already rant about this?**

**Me: -sigh- Yes.**

**Iggy II: And you remember how that ended, don't you?**

**Me: Yep. -smiles- I revealed your secret love for Santa.**

**Iggy II: -_- At least this pairing can't go on much farther.**

**Me: Oh, you'd be surprised.**

**Review? (Sorry it took me so long to type. I couldn't think of any good ideas)  
**


	64. That's Max's Job

**OME (oh my, Edward)!! I was looking through some stuff on DeviantArt and there was this one Max Ride comic where Lissa was Fang's stalker! There's this one doodle where he's in the bathtub (you can't see anything, so don't get too excited) and Lissa's coming out of the water in a snorkel mask and she's like, "hello nick...".**

**Anyway, funniest frickin' MR comic I've ever read.**

**Iggy II: And now onto chapter!**

**Me: Since when are you happy about my chapters?**

**Iggy II: -points to open book on bed- I blow up the school in this chapter.**

**Me: -facepalm-**

**DisclaimeRRRR: I don't own Maximum Ride. I do however own (for now) the pirate costume I'm making for my friend Perry. (Yes, sweetie. I was serious about that)

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**

**Fang POV**

You know how on teen TV shows or in teen books, the main character tends to have a hatred for preps?

Well now I know why.

It's not that I _hated_ Lissa's friends, it's just that, they're so... boring.

I mean, listening to whitecoats talk is better. At least the stuff they say is a tiny bot interesting. With Lissa's crew (or is it a squad?) it was always clothes, boys, or Zac Efron (He's just popping up everywhere, isn't he?).

"Hey, Nick?" Lissa said, drawing out of my bored thoughts.

"Hm," I replied.

She pointed toward the girl half of the group and said, "I'm going to go hang out with the girls while the guys go out to the field. You should go with them, bond."

Bond? Was she serious. But by the look on her face and the pleading look she was giving me, I had to assume she was.

I sighed. "Yeah, sure."

She smiled brightly and pulled me by my arm to the group of guys. They had been arguing about sports and crap most of the time we were walking around the school, and none of them had payed me much attention.

"Hey, guys," Lissa said, walking us up to them. "Mind if Nick hangs with you guys today? He only got here on Monday, so he doesn't know a lot of people here."

A few of the guys started snickering and I glared at them. They stopped immediately, taking a few steps back. Lissa however didn't notice.

"So can he?" she asked, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Sure," a bigger guy (Trevor or something) said.

She smiled her thanks and then ran off, stopping when she reached the laughing group of girls making their way down the hall.

"So," another guy said, looking at me. "We're heading out to the court to play some basketball. You in?"

I shrugged, not really caring. I had only played basketball one or two time, back when we lived at the house in Colorado. And even then I was either playing against Max (aka losing) or Iggy (aka losing, but only because he cheats).

The guys nodded and we started making our way to the playground outside of the school. There were younger kids playing on the monkey bars and a line going up to the slide. But we moved right past those and went to the cement slab that was over to one side of the playground. Two rusty old hoops stood on either side of the faded court.

As the one of the guys went in search of a ball, another stepped up next to me and introduced himself.

"Hey, I'm Zach," he said. "Those guys are Joe and Mark." He pointed to a skinny blond kid with way too big clothes on, and a serious looking brunette with pointy ears. "The one looking for the ball is Dakota, and that's Travis." He pointed to the big guy who I thought was Trevor. Okay. I could remember that. Zach, Joe the white ganster, Mark with Vulcan, Dakota the...ball finder (?), and Travis the giant.

Yeah, I could remember that.

Dakota came over to us, a basketball tucked under his left arm. He dribbled it a bit and the rest of the guys got onto the court.

_Oh crap,_ I thought as I stood where Zach pointed to. _I have no idea what I'm doing..._

Luckily (or unluckily, depends on what bird kid you are at the moment) there was a low rumbling that shook the court. Then after a moment of complete silence the fire alarm started blaring through the grounds. All the little kids on the play ground started screaming as they were rounded up by panicky adults. The guys and I just stood there, shocked for a second. Then my brain snapped into action.

And I ran.

"Nick!" Zach called after me. "What the hell are you doing!?"

I ignored him, running full speed (which is pretty dang fast) towards the building. I had to make sure that the Flock was okay.

I ran through one of the open side doors as students and teachers started rushing out. The sprinkler system turned on as I rounded the first corner. My shirt was soaked through by the time I got to the library, and my shoes kept sliding on the floor. Damn dress shoes.

As I reached out my hand to open the library door, but someone was already flinging it open from the other side. The headhunter's large angry face came into view, what little hair he had was plastered to his forehead, giving him a bit of a comb-forward.

He glared at me as he ran past. "Don't try and be a hero, boy!" he shouted over the whine of the alarm.

Be a hero? _Please_, that was Max's job.

As soon as I thought that, the doors opened again, releasing a steady stream of panicked students. A few girls had books over their head to keep their hair dry, and the librarian was yelling at them. "What are you doing!" he yelled, grabbing a shiny text book from one girl and shoving it into his jacket. "These books cost a fortune! Your hair will take ten minutes to dry!"

The kids and the screaming librarian made their way to a nearby exit. I reached for the door, determined to get in this time, just to have it swing open and hit me in the face.

Ow.

"Whoa!" Max said, walking through the doorway and seeing me clutching my nose.

"What happened?" I heard Nudge ask. The door opened wide and hit my foot. Dammit, stop that!

"You hit me with the door," I said, my voice coming out very nasally since I was still clutching my nose.

Nudge just laughed and lifted her head to the ceiling, eyes closed, letting the water wash down her face. "Mmm..." she hummed. "This is nice."

"Yes, wonderful," Max said, pulling us both towards an exit. "Now will someone please explain to me what the heck is going on here?"

We looked at one another for a moment, both thinking the same thing. Nudge obviously wasn't.

"Earthquake? Volcanic eruption?" she guessed, squeezing some of the water out of her hair as we walked outside. Everyone else was gathered around the baseball diamond so we started heading there.

"Nudge, the closet volcano is in like, Main, or something," Max said, pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders. I had to admit, it was pretty nippy out.

"But in science we're learning that even though a volcano is hundreds of miles away the eruption and still be felt, heard, and seen, from surrounding areas."

There was a moment of silence. Max just looked at her, and Nudge seemed smug.

"Well, yes..." Max said, not knowing how to finish, so I helped her out.

I put a hand on Nudge's shoulder. "Iggy," I said, "would have also been accepted."

Nudge thought for a second, then a look of realization came onto her face. Her eyebrows rose and she made an 'o' with her mouth. "Ohhhh," she said. "_Now _I get it."

When we reached the field everyone was quiet, all looking towards the center of the group. We pushed our way to the front to see the headhunter and who I assumed was the vice principle standing on the pitcher's mound. The VP was holding a megaphone.

"Hey," Gazzy said, coming up to us with Iggy in tow. "What'd we miss?"

"Don't know yet," Max whispered back. "We just got here." She sent him an a accusing look, and he looked at the ground guiltily.

"Boys and girls. Your attention, please," the vice said into the megaphone, her voice booming over the slight chatter going on around us. "I—" she was cut off by Pruitt grabbing the megaphone and shouting into it, making the machine give out a loud screeching noise. A few people screamed and others covered their ears. Iggy blinked a few times, eyes wide, and rubbed one of his ears. "Ow," he muttered. That must have really hurt with his super hearing and all.

Pruitt waited a second and then brought the cone back to mouth. "Hello," she shouted. "This is you caring Principal here." 'Loving principal' my ass... "Would the _Ride_ family please come see me? And I mean _now._"

To make things worse, firetrucks and ambulances started pulling into the parking lot. Men in muddy looking coats and boot started storming the building. One even took an ax to the door, though I think that was a little dramatic.

"You," Max hissed at the boys as we made our way to the headhunter, "are _so_ dead."

And to think, this was only our first week.

* * *

**Eh, it was okay. Can't wait for the Eraser fight scene!**

**Iggy II: Fang doesn't fight any Erasers though. Only Max does.**

**Me: ... I'll improvise something...**

**Also! I forgot to add Angel in there. So let's just assume that she's off plotting world domination or something.**

**Review? I've noticed a bit of a lag in reviews lately, I know a bunch of people are reading this (I _finally _figured out how the traffic charts work on here), so I was a little disappointed the last few times. Not that I'm complaining, 430-something is awesome for a first story.**

**But still: Review?  
**


	65. Rowr

**Alright, good and bad news guys.**

**Bad News: I'm being put on forced hiatus. So I won't even be within fifty feet of my computer for about a week. But my darling mother is letting me post a last chapter before I start my Week of No Computer.**

**Good News: I got a _fabulous _review yesterday, from a mysterious Zeze (I really wish you hadn't reviewed anonymously, I like knowing who I'm thanking) who confirmed what I had been suspecting. That this story was getting lame. So I thought about it a bit and came up with an idea of how I could move the plot along, but still follow the chapters in the book.**

**I'm going to condense the chapters. So in the book, if Max wakes up one morning in Chapter 78, and then the day ends in chapter 84, then I'll take all the chapters in between and put them into one on here. Does that make sense? Well it will once you read this chapter and see how I did it.**

**And since I'm condensing, these chapters are going to be longer and take a few days to write. But I'll still be updating pretty often.**

**So there you have it. I won't be on again until about Sunday next week. I hope this chapter makes up for my absence.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own chapters 65-68 of Maximum Ride. Well, I don't own any of them, but those are the ones I'm focusing on now.

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**Fang POV (65-68)**

Well, I'm not going to bore you with the details of our near expulsion. But let's just say that the boys were caught red-handed. Actually, it more like black-handed, but you get what I mean.

I will, however, tell you about Anne's _very _long and _very _pointless speech. Just because I think it was funny how she thought any of it mattered to us.

So let me set the scene.

The Location: Anne's car, about half way to the house.

The Characters: The Flock and a very cranky Anne.

Background: We had just been picked up from school where Anne had used her super FBI agent status to save our trouble-maker butts.

Here we go...

Silence filled the car for about half a mile, Anne's face turning a new shade of read with every awkward minute that passed.

"This was your big opportunity," she began, her voice sounding deceptively calm. "I'd had higher hopes. You do know what this means right? You're grounded. _All _of you." She narrowed her eyes at us through the rear view mirror.

Gazzy's head sagged a bit, but only to hide his smirk. Max still saw it though, and elbowed him in the arm, making him wince.

"You are in big trouble. There aren't going to be any after school surprises for a long time. I should have taken that away when you set off the stink bomb. But this, this is...ugh!" She took a few steadying breaths as she tried to control her anger. She picked up an empty Starbucks coffee cup and threw it into the car trash can, crushing it with one hand first. Hulk smash...

"I knew I should have done something more the first time. But _no,_ I had to believe that you kids would actually learn and behave. You don't even _know_ how disappointed I am in you!" she continued after a minute.

"I do," Angel muttered, drawing a smiley face in the fog on the window.

"Shh," I whispered to her. She nodded, understanding that now wasn't the time for cheekiness.

"I am just so upset in you kids. Very, very upset." I started to think that she was just going to lecture us and never get around to actually punishing us, but of course that thought didn't last long.

"So I bet you're all wondering about your punishment." We just sat there, none of us really paying attention.

"No TV, no computer, no Gameboys. In fact, if it's fun, you can't do it." _I wonder if that count's for flying_...

"Um, my friend Nishi want's me to go to her house this weekend. We're just gonna study, though," Nudge said.

Anne shook her head, still glaring through the front window. "No. You kids aren't aloud out of that house for anything but school. And if I find out you _did _leave the house, then I'm going to double your punishment, no matter how much of your sentence you've already served."

Okay, that was funny. I mean come on: 'No matter how much of your sentence you've already served'. Rowr. Like we even _cared._ Just a few weeks ago, we were sleeping in trees and dumpster diving for food. She could clean out the entire house of everything but the beds and fridge, and we'd be good.

"How long are we on house arrest?" Iggy asked in a bored tone.

"Two weeks. And if one of you get's an extended punishment, _all _of you get extended punishments," Anne answered.

We were quiet, though I could practically _hear_ the accusations starting to form in all their heads. I knew that as soon as we were at the house, there was going to be a lot of finger pointing.

But for the rest of the ride, we were silent. No one objected, no one complained, and no one pointed out the obvious: that none of that mattered to us.

And Max was really surprising me. She had been silent the whole time, just sitting there, her head resting against the window. I had been expecting her to say something about not being let out of the house, seeing as she was always going for midnight flights, but she didn't say a word. I don't think she was listening really. But I'd still like to know what she was thinking bout to distract her. Probably _Sam..._

And finally, we were there. I would call it home, but it just didn't fell right to do that. This was a house, not a home. No matter how long Anne convinced us to stay here.

We walked in the front door, no one making any sort of eye contact, and Anne immediately went into all the rooms and unplugged the TV's, took the laptop to her room, and collected all of our other toys and gadgets.

"I'll be in the office," she said as she finished unplugging the living room TV. Nudge and Gazzy were standing nearby, mourning the temporary loss of their dear friend. "There's money on the kitchen counter for pizza."

"No thanks," Iggy said, standing up off the couch and stretching. "I'll cook."

"No you won't," Anne said sternly. "You aren't aloud in the kitchen until your grounding is over." She then went upstairs, not looking back to see Iggy's eyes wide, his mouth hanging open as he stared blankly after her.

As soon as she was gone, it started.

"Couldn't you have controlled her to give me at least _that?_" Iggy asked angrily to Angel. Max glared at him and pulled Angel into her lap, petting her curls comfortingly.

"You're not the only one being punished, Ig," Max said in a deadly tone.

"Yeah," Angel piped up, opening her arms and pulling Total into their little pile on the couch. "I have to go two whole weeks without Celeste."

"And I won't get to see my friends outside of school," Nudge added, glaring at Gazzy.

"What?" he asked. "It was _his_ idea to set off the bomb!" He pointed a finger at Iggy.

He scoffed, knowing who the Gasman was accusing. "We were about to be _caught_," he pointed out. Then he gestured to me. "Besides, if he hadn't ditched me, we wouldn't have ended up in that situation in the first place.

Everyone looked at me. Max obviously hadn't heard this news yet.

"You _what?_" she asked, sliding Angel out of her lap and standing up.

"Um...sorry?" I said, taking a cautious step backwards.

She took a steadying breath, closing her eyes and shaking her head slightly. "Okay," she said calmly. "It's not you fault." she opened her eyes and met my eyes, then turned to Iggy. "It _is_, your fault," she pointed to him, "and yours," she pointed to Gazzy.

They looked at the ground, knowing she was right.

There was quiet for a few minutes as we just went and sat in our different spots. I was on one end of the love-seat, propping my head up with my arm. Max was next to me, twiddling her thumbs. Iggy was lying on the couch, Total curled up on the middle of his back. Both of them were sleeping. Gazzy was pouting in the Lay-Z-Boy while Nudge and Angel played tick tack toe on the new coffee table (the room had been refurbished since the bombing a few days ago).

Nudge rolled onto her back, turning her head to look at Max. "We still have this whole house," she pointed out. "It's full of books and games and food."

"No dessert, though," Total said, waking from his nap. "And I didn't do anything!"

"Yeah, no dessert," the Gasman said indignantly.

Max glared at him. "And whose fault is that, wise guy?" she asked, finally snapping. "You and Iggy screwed up _again._ For God's sake, quit bringing explosives to school!"

"We did hear the headhunter telling Ms. Cox to bury some files," he reminded us. They had already told us about it while we waited for Anne at school. "If we could find them, it might give us something to use against him."

Max sighed, rubbing her temples. "How about we just stay under the radar until we leave? Don't retaliate, don't do anything else. Just quietly get through the rest of our time here."

"How long will we be here? Did you decide when you want to leave?" Angel asked, standing up and grabbing some paper and pens off a shelf. She sat down again and started drawing.

"Yeah," Max grumbled. "Two weeks ago."

"Can we just stay through Thanksgiving?" Nudge asked, her big, brown cow eyes pleading with Max. "We've never had a Thanksgiving meal. Please?"

She nodded hesitantly. "If no one else _messes up, _that should be okay."

The younger kids cheered and Iggy mumbled something against the arm rest, probably trying to get back to sleep.

Max sighed and stood up. "I'll be in my room," she said to no one in particular.

I nodded, standing up myself. I went over to a fan in the corner and flipped the switch. It started spinning and I stood in front of it for a second, enjoying the breeze again my warm face.

"Are you crazy!" Iggy asked, lifting his head to look at a point above my left shoulder. "It's freezing in here!"

I looked at him skeptically. Ever sense we'd gotten back from school I'd been getting hotter and hotter. I could feel a thin line of sweet going down the back of my neck.

"Yeah, turn it off," Total said, curling up into a tighter ball.

"Okay, okay." I put my hands up in surrender and reluctantly turned the fan off. I was instantly warm again. _Too _warm.

"Are you okay?" Angel asked, looking up from her doodles.

"Yeah. It's just hot," I said.

"Maybe you should try for non-black clothing," Iggy suggested.

"I'm still wearing my uniform," I informed him. "Can't get lighter then that."

"The air conditioning upstairs is really good," Nudge said. "You could go up there for a bit."

I nodded, liking any idea that got me away from this heat, even if I was the only one feeling it. I got off the love-seat and went upstairs. When I came onto the top landing, I saw Max walking hurriedly away from Anne's door. Strange. Maybe she was feeling weird too.

I went into my room and sheded my shirt, throwing it somewhere on my floor. Damn, how could Iggy call it cold in here? I went to my window and threw it open, but closed the curtains. I changed into a pair of old basketball shorts and laid on my bed, still felling like I was burning up. But it wasn't as bad as before. And my wings felt really sore, too, even though I hadn't been out flying all day.

_What the hell was happening?_

A few hours later, the kids came by to say good night. The heat had already passed and I had been sitting on my bed in the same shorts, but now I had a shirt on. The soreness in my wings was still there though, which was really uncomfortable.

"Hey, Fang," Angel said, running into my room. "I'm going to bed." She climbed onto the bed and hugged me around the neck. Max stood smiling in the doorway "I'm glad you're feeling better," Angel whispered to me. I nodded slightly and she let go. After we stacked fists she ran off, her gold curls bouncing the whole way.

"Later," Max said, pushing away from the door she'd been leaning against. _Later._ It was a code between us. It meant that she'd be back tonight. I guess something was going on with her.

"Later," I said back, letting her know I understood. She left down the hall and I went back to reading. She wouldn't come in here until she was sure that the others were asleep. Probably around midnight or something.

So I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Eventually there was a soft scrape of my door. I drummed my finger against the cover of my book so she'd know I was awake. The door opened soundlessly and she tiptoed in, shutting it behind her.

She came and sat cross-legged on the my bed, her eyes wide and alert.

"I found them," she whispered excitedly. "I was walking past Anne's room and happened to see a portion of the news on her TV. There was this couple taking about their lost son. I think they were Iggy's parents."

I look intently at her, a few strands of my hair falling in my face.

"They were standing in front of their house," she continued. "I saw enough to recognize it if I saw it again. Their name was Griffiths. Their kid disappeared fourteen years ago. And the woman was the spitting image of Iggy."

I ignored the urge to run to Iggy's room and tell him he looked like a girl, and instead thought about it. Griffiths. That's what Iggy's last name was supposed to be. But what were the chances that Max would walk past a TV that was playing an interview of them,of all people?

I shook my head slowly. "I can't believe you would just happen to see that."

"I know. But how could it possibly be a setup? We weren't even allowed to watch TV today. I just — I think we have to check it out." I knew I wouldn't be able to change her mind. But that wouldn't stop me from trying.

I shook my head again. "How many houses are there in the DC area?" I asked.

"This house had a big, dark church behind it, like on the next block. It was old-fashioned, and the spire was really tall. How many of those are there?"

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "About a million."

"Fang! This is a huge break! Of coarse we should go check it out!"

I looked at her. This was probably the closest she'd ever come to begging. And I had to admit, Max had been pretty good at finding the Institute in New York. It probably wouldn't be that much harder to find an old church in DC.

Then I remembered something.

"But we're _grounded_." I said seriously.

She stared at me for a second, then we burst out laughing.

Another hour and a half later and we were flying over the lights of DC. It looked a lot different than it had when we went here the other day. It was _literally _day and night.

We were in for a long night, that much I knew. The voice hadn't piped up with any fortune cookie sayings for Max to decode, so I guess we were on our own.

Which would've been fine. But of course I had to get another heat flash. And this one was bad.

I tried to wipe my forehead as little as possible, but it's hard when you're sweating buckets. And my wings had started aching again, so I had to roll my shoulders every now and then to get out the kinks.

"What's wrong?" Max asked eventually. I thought about lying, but then remembered what happened the last time I was too proud to admit something. I had ended up shredded with a very panicky Max ready to kick my butt as soon as I was able to walk again.

"I'm way hot," I muttered. "But I don't feel sick. Just — way hot."

"Like I did?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "Huh. Give it a week; you'll be flying like the Concorde. I think. Or, you know, you're dieing." She sent me a grin but I didn't return it, because I'd just thought of something.

I had been dieing. I had needed blood, so Max donated some. But we weren't like other people...

"What? You feeling really bad?" she asked worriedly.

"No. But I just thought of something. I have your blood in me."

She was silent for a second, and I concentrated on the last kink in my left wing. I rolled my shoulders a few times and it was out. Thank _God..._

"So?" Max said eventually. "It was just blood."

I shook my head (I seemed to be doing that a lot). "Not our blood," I said. "The red cells have DNA, remember? I got transfused with your DNA."

She thought for a second. "Uh, so?"

I shrugged, a little frustrated that she wasn't getting this. "So maybe that's why this is happening. Maybe it wasn't supposed to happen to me."

"Hmm," she said. "And we don't know if that's bad or good or nothing."

"Guess we'll find out," I said, and we kept flying, starting on a search that could end just like these symptoms.

Good, bad, or nothing.

Three hours.

That's how long we looked around DC. And let me tell you, my estimation of a million churches wasn't far off. We didn't go three blocks without Max saying, "Oh! Down there!"

And were they ever the right church? No. Did we find any sign of Iggy's parents? No. Was I so tired I was about to fall out of the sky?

You betcha.

Max yawned for the hundredth time that night, and I finally gave up.

"Max?" I called to her. She turned and I saw that her eyes were bloodshot from the wind. "I think we should call it a night."

She looked towards the ground and bit her lower lip, not wanting to give up.

"Max," I said more sternly. "I don't want to have to drag you're passed out ass back to Anne's. Let's. Go."

She looked at me, surprised. I don't swear a lot (out loud), and I defiantly didn't boss Max around. Those both usually ended in me getting in trouble.

So you can imagine my surprise when she nodded and said, "Okay, you're right. Let's go."

We looped around and flew back to Anne's house, which was about another hour away. But we eventually reached the orchards, the house coming into view on the other side of the pond. I looked up at the stars; it was about 3:00 am.

As we were angling our wings towards a window we'd left open, Max held up her hand, a signal for me to stop.

"Fang," she breathed. I looked at her and she gesture towards the house.

In one of the second floor windows a silhouette was visible against the lights on behind it.

It was Anne.

I saw Max tense up and narrow her eyes. We were thinking the same thing: was Anne a spy? And if so, for who?

We were both exhausted though, so we still went in. We came from a different angle, though, so that Anne wouldn't see us. We folded in our wings at the last second, landing noiselessly in the little storage room.

"Night," I whispered, holding out my fist. She stacked hers on top and we tapped the back of each others hands.

"Night," she said back as we went our separate ways. When I got to my room I kicked off my shoes and shrugged out of my jacket. I fell onto the bed, my wings still out behind me. Anne never came into the room, just like I knew she wouldn't.

She'd seen enough.

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**Finger...cramps...**

**Iggy II: That was pretty long.**

**Me: Good thing I'm out sick today. Or I wouldn't have finished this all tonight.**

**Iggy II: So...what now?**

**Me: -sigh- I post. Then go ice my knuckles. And then we'll...watch Twilight.**

**Iggy II: -shrug- Sounds good.**

**Me: I WILL MISS YOU ALL!!!**

**Jammies: -nods-**

**Review? Constructive criticism is very much appreciated!  
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	66. Holy Crap I Need An Aspirin

**I'm baaaaaaaack!**

**Thank you guys for all the reviews I got over my (very traumatic) Week of No Computer. They were all very nice and encouraging. And, I realize that 'lame' may not have been the _best _word to use. I guess I just felt that the story wasn't going where I wanted it to. You know, it was just getting sort of random. But after all the good comments I got on the longer chapters, I've decided to keep this new system.**

**And guess what happened while I was away? I got a tan.**

**Yes, you heard me, a _tan. _As in I am no longer so pale that you can see the veins in my shoulder (I didn't even know there were any there, much less you could see them). I just had nothing to do all week so I sat around outside for very long periods of time. Eventually I realized that I didn't seem to turn transparent in the sunlight and I couldn't blend into walls anymore (damn...).**

**But I am still never to let my computer get taken away from me again. I mean I had to get one of those stress balls so I had something to do with my hands. And I was really moody for a while there. But I'm back, and I'm badder then ever (always wanted to say that)! So here we go, my long awaited update!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. And Iggy II has claimed my stress ball since I don't use it any more, so I don't own that either.

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**Fang POV**

So most of you have probably been grounded before. Or at least gotten in trouble. You know: no TV, no phone, no hanging out with friends. Basically, no fun, but only for a little while. No big deal, right? Well how would you feel if your Parent or Guardian decided that you couldn't walk? Or move your head? Or breath?

Not so easy anymore, huh?

Well that's basically how it felt to go two whole weeks without flying. It was like having two extra limbs that you couldn't use. I guess it would be close to how someone who's paralyzed would feel. Like you can see the part you want to move, but you can't.

So the entire Flock was relieved when Friday came and we were off house arrest. We were all so excited that we didn't even wait until we were back at Anne's. Instead, we just walked a few yards into the woods surrounding the school, jumped in the air, and flew for hours. We went by the bat cave, stopped at the lake, and even went into town and bought three pizzas that we all shared in the park.

So everything was going good. Some may even say perfect. But knowing my life, it was far from it. So I was just waiting for something to happen, for some enemy to jump out and attack us. The feeling of unease that had been following me around all day just got stronger with every painfully normal minute. So much so that by dinner I kept having to look over my shoulder, the feeling of having a storm cloud above my head making it hard to concentrate on what we were talking about.

"So, Max," I heard Angel say, her sweet face breaking into an unholy grin. "Is there something you'd like to share with us?"

Everyone, excluding me, looked at Max. I could tell by the way she had stiffened up in my peripheral vision that she didn't want to talk about it. But that didn't bug me. I'd just ask her about it later.

"Nope," Max replied, popping the 'p'.

"You want me to tell them?" Angel asked, her voice taking on a sinister tone.

"No!" Max exclaimed, her head whipping around to look frantically at Angel. I looked at her this time and she caught my eye. Embarrassment flashed through her large brown eyes and she looked away. Hm...that was interesting.

"Anyone care to fill in the blind kid?" Iggy asked from the seat two down from mine.

"Anyone care to fill in anyone?" Nudge asked.

Max sighed, rubbing her temples and closing her eyes. I really hoped that she didn't have a brain attack all of a sudden. She hadn't had one in a while, but that could be because they were building up for a huge attack. And the nearest hospital was in the next town over, and we were already pretty far out of the city limits.

"Fine," Max finally muttered, opening her eyes and reaching for the bread basket. "My friend Sam asked me on a date."

You know that cliché line, 'my heart stopped beating'? Well mine _literally _stopped. The rhythm of it had been going _thrum...thrum...thrum. _But when Max made that little announcement, my heart went _thrum... ... ... thrum._ An unfamiliar emotion knotted my stomach and made anger spark in my mind. My hands clenched into fists under the table

"You what?" Iggy exclaimed, covering his mouth so he didn't do a spit take with his soda.

"I got asked on a date," she repeated, flinging potatoes onto her plate irritably.

"Oh, Max!" Nudge said, beaming at her like suddenly _she _was the proud, older sister and _Max _was the little girl.

"You're kidding," the Gasman said, laughing his head off. "What a loser! What'd he say when you shot him down?"

Max pretended to ignore him and cut her steak. Oh crap, she said _yes_?

"You said yes, didn't you?" Nudge echoed my thoughts aloud. What on Earth was Max thinking? We were supposed to be staying low, not drawing any attention to ourselves. And yes, dates were a normal thing...for humans. We were different. What if Max wasn't careful and Sam saw her wings? Or what if he bugged her so much that she ended up murdering him and burring him in a ditch?

But then again, Max wasn't stupid. If anything she was the most cautious and rational thinking person out of the entire group. She'd be quadruply sure to not let Sam know about the wings. But the murder thing...well, let's just say Max has never been famous for her control over her anger.

"Oh, my God," Iggy said disbelievingly. "Max on a _date._ I thought we were trying to _avoid _tears and violence and mayhem."

Max looked up from her plate long enough to glare at him, but looked down again when she realized that it had no affect.

"I think it's great," Angel chimed in, also using the I'm-so-proud voice. "Max is beautiful. She _should_ go on dates."

I watched Max carefully, waiting for her reaction. Usually she would have denied that fact and said that it was stupid to put even a tiny bit of trust in anyone outside the Flock. But this time she smiled slightly, the side of her mouth twitching upward. But as soon as it was there, it was gone, replaced by a blank mask. Something I'd taught her to do a long time ago.

"What are you going to wear?" Anne said, obviously not wanting to be too pushy, but still curious.

_A potato sack and a pair of bright orange galoshes,_ I thought.

Angel sent me a weird look, but otherwise ignored me. Crap, I really hoped she wasn't passing any of my thoughts along to Max. That's the last thing I need right now.

"Don't know," Max muttered, her cheeks becoming just a shade darker than usual. She looked around the table, giving us all a look that said "this conversation is over". The girls giggled and Gazzy snickered, whispering something to Iggy about how they could work on their 'project' while Max was out.

And did you notice how I didn't say anything?

Right.

But that was Friday, so I (and the rest of the Flock) had two days to get used to the strange idea of Max going on an actual date. But when Monday evening came around, I still didn't feel good about it. It just seemed like a really bad idea, and not a he-could-be-an-Eraser way. Or even the, I'm-your-brother-I'm-not-supposed-to-approve-of-this way. It was more of a...well, I didn't know what to call it. I just didn't want her to go. Period. No real reason to it, it's just what my gut said.

But there wasn't anything I could do to change her mind, even if I had tried. So instead of luring her out of her room with chocolate chip cookies and locking her in the closet (a plan that would only work up until the point where she came back out), I went up to her room to give her "a guy's opinion".

"And I need your opinion because...?" she asked, standing in front of her dresser mirror. She had on a black V-neck top and dark blue skinny jeans. And there wasn't a tear of bloodstain on either of them (I know, shocking). Her long, dirty-blond hair was pulled into a pony tail and the girls had convinced her to put on some lip gloss and even eye shadow.

She looked...wow.

"It's more an older brother sort of thing." She gave me a look and I quickly corrected myself. "I mean, a _younger_ brother sort of thing. But a brother none the less."

She looked at me like I was crazy, but went back to packing the small gray purse Anne was letting her borrow. It was mostly filled with tissue packs, gum, Anne's cell phone, and a pack of tick-tacks (I tried not to think about why she'd need fresh breath).

"What?" I said when she glance at me again. "Iggy can't see you, Gazzy doesn't care, so it's up to me to make sure you don't leave in a mini skirt and halter top."

She turned full towards me, putting her hands on her hips. "Oh yes, because I go around dressing like a slut all the time," she said sarcastically.

I gasped dramatically. "Language, Maximum," I scolded her.

She rolled her eyes and looked back in the mirror. "Just think of it as a recon mission," she said, more to herself than to me.

I leaned against her door frame, just watching her.

"What?" she asked defensively. "I'm fine," she said. She pulled on one of Iggy's hoodies. It was way too big for her, but it would cover her wings well.

"Uh-huh," I said nodding. "Usually when you looked like that, I know you're about to hurl."

She scowled and said, "I'm _fine_." But I could see the panic building in her eyes, the way she was drumming her nails impatiently against the dresser top, and how she was biting her lower lip. Those were all big indicators that she was freaking out inside.

Oh, I was never going to let her live this down.

I opened my mouth to make a smart-ass comment that would probably get me a nice big bruise, but right then I heard the doorbell go off downstairs.

I grinned evilly at Max, then bolted down the hall.

I heard her running after me, so I knew I only had a second or two beforeshe caught up. I went to the door, cleared my expression and opened it.

"Oh," Sam said, his hand raised to knock again. "Hey, Nick."

"Hey," I said in my friendliest voice (which isn't that friendly). "Come on in."

He nodded and stepped through the door. Step one of Operation: Embarrass Max was now complete.

"Hiya," Angel said, skipping up to us with Nudge close behind. I saw Gazzy peaking at us from the living room, examining Sam curiously. It was like we were aliens and he was some strange being that didn't realize that everyone around him wasn't even human (that was a scarily accurate metaphor...).

"Hey," Sam said smiling at the girls. "It's...Ariel, right? And...Kristy?"

Nudge shook her head. "Krystal," she corrected. "Tiffany-Krystal."

"And I'm Bond," Iggy said, walking past us casually with what used to be the TV remote now destroyed in his hands. "James Bond."

Iggy went to the stairs, passing Max on the way. I wonder what took her so long?

She immediately noticed the remote and gave him a questioning look. "What is that?" she asked.

"What's what?" he said confusedly. "I don't see anything." He continued past her and Max scowled at his back, then turned back to us.

"Hi, Max!" we all said, the girls smiling innocently, and me just smirking.

"Uh, hi," Sam said awkwardly. Max smiled apologetically and made her way over to the door, opening it up for him. He nodded and followed her out, but not before looking back at us and giving us a weird look.

"Bye, Max!" Angel called after her, waving. Even from this far I could see the blush creeping up the back of Max's neck.

"Have fun!" Nudge shouted too. They then slammed the door and dissolved into a fit of giggles.

I, on the other hand, felt my smirk turn into a half grimace half scowl. This immediately drew the attention of the two mischievous children before me.

"Aw," Nudge said, "Fangy's jealous."

I raised an eyebrow at her, trying for nonchalance but only achieving shock. "Jealous of what?" I asked.

"Her jeans," Nudge said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Of Sam you ding-dong."

This time both of my eyebrows went up. "Why would I be jealous of Sam?"

"Because he gets to hang out with Max," Angel said in a very duh voice.

I scoffed. "I have to deal with Max 24/7. Anyone who's willing to take care of her for a few hours is alright in my book." _As long as they aren't Sam_, I added silently. This, of course, did not go unnoticed.

Angel giggled, and I glared at her. This just caused her to beam at me, obviously intent on giving the opposite reaction of whatever I did.

"Come on, Nudge," Angel said, taking her hand. "Let's ask Anne if we can stay up and wait for Max."

"Oh! Good idea!" The two of them hurried down the hallway to the kitchen where Anne would be attempting to cook dinner.

I sighed and rubbed my temples. Yeah, it was fun to bug Max about Sam. No, it was not fun to bug me about him. So I decided to get away from the girls before they came up with another annoyingly successful way of making me tick. Only, where could I go? I thought about it for a second, trying to decide where two evil little mutant bird kids wouldn't be able to find me. Then, I had it.

I hid in my room.

Yes, I really am that pathetic.

But that didn't matter. All I wanted was to go to bed early, wake up in the morning, and make fun of Max for acting like a girl,

But _no. _I couldn't sleep, could I? Nope, I had to lay there for a whole hour just staring at the ceiling. Sure, it was only about 8, 8:30 at night. But I was used to forcing myself to sleep. So why couldn't I now?

I sighed for about the hundredth time in the last twenty minutes and rolled onto my side. My radio was sitting on the bedside table, in place of the usual alarm clock. I hated the beeping noise those things made, so I had decided when we got here that I'd just set a timer on the radio for it to go off every morning. But other than that I didn't listen to it often. Yeah, I like music. But the only radio station I could get good reception on up here was some current pop/rock station. Which I wasn't really a fan of.

But desperate times call for desperate measures.

I pressed the power button and waited a second for the music to start. And when it did I closed my eyes and concentrated, trying to clear my head. **(A/N: Oh my God, I just had a flash back to the one shot I posted the other day. Now I have an extreme urge to make Fang break out dancing)**

_I'm coming out of my cage  
And I've been doing just fine_

My eyes shot open. Cage? I used to be in a cage...

I shook my head, trying to clear the jumbled thoughts and went back to listening to the song.

_It started out with a kiss  
How did it end up like this  
It was only a kiss  
it was only a kiss_

The memory of Max kissing me on the beach popped into my head, but I shut it out immediately. She'd thought I was dieing, it had meant nothing more than she was happy I had woken up.

Right?

_Now I'm falling asleep  
And she's calling a cab  
While he's having a smoke  
And she's taking a drag_

_Now they're going to bed  
And my stomach is sick  
And it's all in my head_

Okay, Creepily Accurate Lyrics, I think you should go. I reached my hand out to turn the radio back off, but the next lyrics caught my attention.

_And I just can't look its killing me  
And taking control_

_Jealousy, turning saints into the sea  
Swimming through sick lullabies  
Choking on your alibis  
But it's just the price I pay  
Destiny is calling me  
Open up my eager eyes  
'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside_

I laid there for a minute, listening to the rest of the song; a strange feeling sinking into me. What did they call it? A premonition? Yeah, that was it. I could _feel _something was going on, something was happening, but I didn't know what. I shook my head and turned off the radio before it could start playing something else. Like, I don't know, Max Isn't My Sister Anymore by Confused As Hell.

I rubbed my forehead, considering what I should do now. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't listen to the (suspiciously psychic) radio, and I couldn't talk to Max.

So I just laid there thinking. About what? Everything. School, Erasers, Max, the Flock, Anne, Max, the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, whether or not I should call an exorcist about my radio, and Max.

About halfway through my drabbles the door to the room opened and Anne poked her head in. "I'm putting the kids to bed," she said.

"Okay," I said, leaning slightly so I could look around her and see the rest of the Flock in the hall. "Night, guys," I called to them. Iggy and Gazzy nodded tiredly, and Nudge and Angel grumbled.

"Don't see why we can't wait for her," Nudge muttered, her arms crossed and her face set in a scowl. But both of them looked tired, so I knew they wouldn't give Anne too hard a time.

"Well, good night, Nick," Anne said, stepping away from the door.

"Hm," I said, closing my eyes and pretending to go to sleep. But as soon as the door shut I was back to thinking. Man, with all the thoughts whizzing through my head, Angel was going to have a serious headache in the morning.

Eventually I heard the sound of a car coming up the front drive and jumped out of bed. I didn't know why I was so anxious for Max to be back; I guess it was just weird knowing that she wasn't here making some sort of plan or taking care of the kids or—

The doors to the van I had watched pull up swung open. I watched as Sam got out of the van, and then walked around to the other side to let Max out. And you know what? She giggled. And it did the strangest things to her face. Her eyes softened and her cheeks flushed slightly, and her mouth came out of the frown that had been set there almost permanently for the past month or so.

And all of that was happening because of Sam.

I felt like I was gonna hurl.

Max and Sam walked to up to the porch, their hands intertwined. When they reached the porch I could see them clearly in the little light above the door. Max was talking and looking away awkwardly. Yes, awkward was a good sign.

But of what?

Then Sam said something, then Max again, this time looking questioning. Sam nodded his head at what she said, and then took a step towards her.

My body tensed at the same second Max's did, and I saw the panic flash in her eyes. I was about to run outside when I saw Sam gently place one hand on her shoulder, and the other under her chin. He tilted her head up to his, and kissed her.

Okay, _now _I felt like I was gonna hurl.

I expected Max to push him away and then drop kick him into next week, but she didn't. Instead her wide eyes closed slowly as he kissed her again and wrapped his arms around her waist. They started to angle their heads so they could kiss better.

I jumped back from the window, completely shocked. What the hell just happened? Max was...was...holy crap I need an aspirin.

I ran out of the room, glad the rest of the Flock was already asleep. I didn't feel like I could keep my usual emotionless mask on even if I tried. I ran into the bathroom and went straight to the medicine cabinet. There wasn't any aspirin, but there was something called Ambien. The label said it was to help you fall asleep, and I definitely needed help with that. I just wanted something to get that picture of Sam and Max kissing out of my head. And _fast._

I flipped the bottle over and quickly read over the side effects. Sleepwalking...eating or driving while not fully awake, with memory loss for the event (sounds _very_ safe)...abnormal behaviors such as being more outgoing (huh, that's certainly interesting)... confusion... agitation... hallucinations...

So nothing to bad. I rolled my eyes at the multiple side affects and put the bottle back. I guess I'd have to get to sleep the old fashioned way; headachy and unassisted by prescription drugs.

From behind me I heard the front door open and close. I could hear Max and Anne talking downstairs, and then Max's foot steps coming up the stairs. I watched her walk right past the open bathroom door, and then heard the door to her room close.

She looked really happy.

I felt weird, but I didn't know if it was from the headache or something else. I went out into the hall and down to my room, waiting for the weird feeling in my stomach to pass and for my drowsiness to take over.

But it didn't, instead it got worse and a little voice in the back of my head started up saying, "Talk to her. Talk to her. Talk to her." And for some reason the voice sounded like the villain from Die Hard **(He's also Snape from Harry Potter)**. Strange, I don't _think _I took those pills...

I finally gave into the annoying little voice and got off the bed. I started making my way down the hall, wondering what I was going to ask her. _Hey, how'd you like sucking face with a guy who I'm pretty sure I hate and then walking down the hall so happy you completely ignored the fact that I was standing there with a bottle of pills that could make me overly confident?_

Uh, no. I don't think so.

When I got to Max's door I remembered how happy she'd seemed when I'd seen her in the hall and felt my stomach clench again. I hesitated, thinking that maybe I shouldn't bug her. She'd probably want to be thinking about _him..._

With a sudden burst of confidence I opened the door and peeked inside, my hand covering my eyes. "Whoa," I said. "You're happy glow. It's blinding."

She rolled her eyes and continued to peel of her hoodie. She moved her shoulders around a bit and her large brown and white speckled wings unfolded behind her. Her shoulders relaxed and she smiled faintly. Obviously she'd been extra careful to keep her wings in, and they were probably really sore.

I shut the door behind me, just on the off chance that the date had gone horribly and she needed to start spilling her guts. And I knew she wouldn't want the kids to here that. Speaking of which.

"They wanted to stay up and wait for you, but Anne made them go to bed," I said. She knew what I was talking about and nodded.

"Good thinking on Anne's part," she said, her voice sounding almost a little sad. Why? Did I miss something when I'd run from the window? Because if that ass did anything to her I _swear_ to _God_...

I shook me head to clear my thoughts, then went and leaned against her desk, my arms crossed over my chest. "So? How was it?" I asked. I still had that damned image of them kissing stuck in my mind, so there was an undertone of anger and irritation in my voice. Max looked up at me and examined my face, which I tried to make impassive. I didn't want her to know how pissed I was about the whole situation. But it was mostly because I didn't know _why _I was pissed. I just...was.

Suddenly something snapped, and I couldn't stop the words that I blurted out next. "I saw him — what's the phrase? oh, yeah — 'stuck to you like glue.' So I guess you got along alright." As soon as I said the words I wished I could take them back. Because though she didn't show it, I knew she was upset by my behavior. But I don't see how I could approve of her being so trusting with someone she barely even knew.

"Yeah," she said faintly. "There's a lot of that going around."

I immediately felt embarrassed; I really hadn't meant for Max to see me and Lissa kissing. And ever since she had, it was like she didn't trust me anymore. And it made me feel like a total ass.

I decided that I was going to fix this, or at least try to. So I went and sat next to her on the bed, leaning back against the headboard as she kicked off her sneakers.

"So you like him. I don't have to kill him," I hadn't meant for that second part to come out, and as it did my voice got tense. But Max must have thought I was joking or something, because she didn't comment.

She shrugged. "Yeah. He was really nice. We had a good time."

There was something in her voice that let me know there was something bugging her; something more. "But...?" I prompted her gently.

She started rubbing her temples in slow circles, something she'd been doing a lot lately. "But so what?" she finely said, her voice sounding tired and defeated. "He could be the nicest guy in the world, but it doesn't change anything. I'm still a mutant freak. We're still in a situation I hate more every day. We can't trust anyone. We can't solve the code mystery. We can't find our parents — not that it would help if we did."

As she spoke my head slowly tilted downwards, until I was staring at my lap. I didn't know what to say. All I really knew was that I hated how she said 'we' for everything, but then said that _she _was a mutant freak. Not _us _or _we_, but her, like she was the only person in the world who was different. And she wasn't a freak. Sure, she was strange as hell, we all were. But she wasn't a _freak_.

"I saw Ari tonight," she whispered, and my head shot up. "He was standing outside the ice cream shop. He smiled at me. And there was someone with him..." she paused for a second, thinking something over. "I saw —" she stopped herself, her eyes going wide and her face paling. I was about to ask her what was wrong when she slowly turned her scared and panicked eyes to meet mine.

"Ari had me with him," she said faintly. "There was a me outside the window."

I blinked, not wanting to accept what she was saying.

"I saw a flash of blond-streaked hair in the van that day they attacked us," she continued to explain, though I was too shocked to really understand anything she was saying. "And tonight I saw that same hair, outside with Ari. I thought it was my own reflection in the window. But it wasn't a reflection. It was _me._"

I could tell by the determined look on her face and the set of her jaw that she was positive about what she saw. So there was no doubt in my mind that she was right.

"Holy crap," I found myself saying. "A Max on the dark side. Pretty much the worst thing I can think of. Jesus. Another Max. A bad Max. Crap." I was just saying whatever coherent thoughts came to my head, so I was happy when she finally interrupted my babbling.

"That's not all," she said. Oh great, what now? "You know how I said if I went bad, I'd want you to — do anything you had to, to keep the others safe?"

I watched her warily. Yes, I remembered, but I hadn't expected to ever have to follow through on my half promise, much less so soon.

"Yeah," I finally said.

"The reason I asked about that..." She took a deep breath and looked away from me. "A couple time, when I've looked into a mirror, I've — seen myself morph. Into an Eraser."

I stayed quiet, silently willing her to say she was lying. That this was a joke. A weird, messed up joke.

"I touch my face," she said, running her hand subconsciously across her cheek, "and it feels just the same. Human, smooth. But the mirror shows me as an Eraser."

I didn't know what to say. I mean this was Max we were talking about, and she was never scared. But here she was, arms wrapped around her knees, looking away like she was ashamed to see my reaction. But that was all my reaction was: worry, fear. All for Max.

So I tried to lighten the mood, make her feel better. I said the first thing that came to my mind that wasn't "Holy crap, Max is an Eraser and I _really _don't want to kill her".

"I bet you looked kind of Pekingesey," I finally said, surprising even myself with the strangeness of the statement.

She whipped around to look at me, confusion evident on her face. "What?" she hissed.

"Bet you were kind of cute, pup girl," I said like the total moron that I am. And to make it worse I bared my teeth, pretending they were fangs. I made some weird growling noise, "Rrrff!", and made a pouncing motion at her. All together, I assumed I looked pretty stupid. So I expected her to laugh her ass of and call me an idiot. Which I was. She reached out to smack me but I dodged, laughing and trying to seem normal (though that whole pup-girl-thing had proven that I wasn't).

She jumped to her feet, her eyes filled with anger and hurt. Oh crap, not again. I really tried to stop laughing, but the image in my head was too much. Max with puppy dog ears and a collar, barking at Total as he tried to steal her chew toy.

I held up my hands in surrender, feeling like an even bigger ass than before (if that was possible).

"Look," I said. "I know you're not an Eraser. I don't know why you saw that in the mirror, and I don't know who the other Max is, I do know who you are, all the way through. And you're not an Eraser. And even if I saw you as an Eraser, I would still recognize you. I know you're not evil, no matter what you might look like."

She stood there for a second, the pain in her eyes slowing leaking away until she just looked tired and sad. Her eyes filled with tears and she sunk down onto the bed next to me. I wrapped my arm protectively around her shoulders and gave them a slight squeeze, then let go and pulled my arm back.

"Thanks," she said, her voice weak and sad. I really wished I hadn't laughed. I wished I had just been smart and skipped right to the heart felt I-know-you stuff right away. Then maybe she wouldn't be so sad, so broken.

I smoothed her hair as I stood, tucking a thick chunk behind her ear. I lifter her chin so she was looking at me. "You're fine," I said in a softer voice.

"Don't you _dare _put any of this in your blog," she said in a weak warning tone. "Don't even think about it for a millisecond."

I smirked. "Don't flatter yourself," I said, leaving the room.

_Besides,_ I thought,_ I need to figure this out before I tell _anyone.

* * *

**-whistle- Whoa, long chapter.**

**Iggy II: What is it? 6,000 plus words?**

**Me: Yeppers. But I liked it. It seemed more...I don't know, _right._**

**Iggy II: -yawn- Yeah, uh-huh. So can I sleep now?**

**Me: Sure, but first I have super duper cooliness news to share! I left about half way through this chapter to go Halloween costume shopping (I know it's tomorrow, shut up) and got the _perfect _outfit. Guess who I'm gonna be?  
**

**Iggy II: Satan? A which? Hitler? Miley Cyrus?**

**Me: No, no, no, and... er, no. I'm gonna be Max! Woohoo!**

**Iggy II: Yes, wonderful. Now I'm going to sleep. -walks away- ... -comes back- And the Cookie goes to flockgirl, for saying that I should have a cookie. But I think I'll wait til morning.**

**Me: -rolls eyes- Night y'alls!**

**Review? (Really do love flockgirl's reviews, but I'm too tired to go into detail about them. Just know they're great!)**


	67. Move Your Hand!

**Oh my frickin' Muahaha! I had a fantabulous Halloween! Me and my friend Perry went to a bunch of houses and sang Christmas carols ('cause we're cool like that)! One lady took a video of us and said she was sending it to her parents in South Africa, so we're, like, gonna be famous down there! Oh, and I got Iggy II to wear a costume too.  
**

**Iggy II: It was like hell on earth. Which is ironic because I was an angel.**

**Me: Oh come on, you know you loved it!**

**Iggy II: I was in a dress!**

**Me: It was a toga and you looked fabby.**

**Iggy II: Like my testosterone isn't low enough in this house of all girls, but now I also have to be considered 'fabby'.**

**Me: -ignoring Debbie Downer-ness- Anywho! Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I just couldn't. My muse was, like, on vacation or something. Also, how was _your _Halloween/Samhain/Day (or Night) of the Dead/Saturday? Hope it was good. Anyone else get on youtube in a foreign country?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. But I do own my Maximum Ride outfit (that only cost $9).

* * *

**

**Fang POV (74 & 75, last one was 69-73)  
**

Okay, I'm a pretty bright kid. We all are. That's just how me and the Flock were designed. But I swear to you, not in a million years will I understand the mystery that is what goes on a girls head.

Max, for example, can go from happy, to depressed, to normal in...about 10 minutes. Give her a whole day and you can through pissed, cranky, and egotistic in there too.

But I say those in a loving way.

You see, the day after Max's whole Romeo-and-Juliet thing with Sam (gag) and her announcement about _maybe _becoming an Eraser, I had expected her to be acting weird. You know, a little depresses and sad, like girls do on TV when they're upset.

But no, Max had to let out her emotions by going on a nice midnight flight to find Iggy's parents. And this wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't dragged her "best friend" out of bed in the middle of night to go with her.

And guess who happened to be playing the role of best friend today?

Right.

So I had been lying in bed, finally being able to slip into a nice deep sleep and reliving memories from earlier that day. Waking up to a cloudless blue sky, having a nice breakfast, going to school, talking to Lissa, yelling at Iggy not to blow up the Science lab no matter how much extra credit he'd get. You know, regular teenage mutant bird-kid stuff. **(I almost wrote teenage mutant _ninja turtles_ XP)**

But then there was suddenly an insistent tapping on my window. At first I thought it was just the wind making a branch hit the glass, but eventually it grew louder and sounded almost like knocking.

I grumbled and rolled over onto my back, my wings feeling uncomfortable since they were now crushed underneath me. I stayed perfectly still, listening to the noise. Sure enough it had gotten to the point of banging.

I sighed and got out of bed, walking to the window and grumbling about how I never got any sleep around here.

I threw the window opened and looked out, expecting there to be an Eraser or a squirrel or something, but instead I saw something worse. Something that I really, _really _did not want to deal with right now.

Ari? No.

Sam? No, I'd've drowned his stalker ass in the bathtub.

No, it was something so horribly terrible and annoying that it could only be described with two words.

Maximum. Ride.

"Hey," she said, sitting cross legged on a tree branch right outside the window.

"What are you doing in a tree?" I asked, trying hard not to just slam the window shut and go back to bed. Something tells me that wouldn't go over so well...

"Anne was watching TV with her door open. She would've seen me if I tried to sneak down the hall."

"So you climbed a tree?" I asked.

"Yep. Now get dressed and come on." She stood up easily and bounced lightly on the thin branch, barely making it bend.

"Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "We're gonna look for Ig's parents. We barely got anything done that first night, and it's a late start tomorrow, so we've got extra time."

I looked at her a second, going over my options. I could either go with her, or complain...and still end up going with her. I decided to take the path that would best preserve my pride.

By the time I had my shoes and jacket on, Max had already taken off and was flying a few hundred feet above the house; her silhouette going in and out of sight against the full moon above. I leaped onto the branch, made sure my window was shut but still unlocked, and took off after her, my dark wings sliding silently through the night air.

"Where are we headed now?" I asked.

"Sam helped me do some research today." She said his name casually but I still felt my stomach clench a bit. "I came up with about 10 square miles of houses that could work."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You told him about finding our parents?"

"What? No! I'm not that crazy." She said the last part as a joke, but I didn't smile back. Instead I shrugged (as much as you can in the air) and sped forward a bit.

We didn't say anything for a while, instead enjoying the peace that seemed to come with flying at night. A lot of people would think it was scary, you know, like maybe we'd get lost in a cloud or get hit by a plane. But we were smart enough to steer clear of clouds, and planes are a little hard to miss, even at night. And since the sky was clear and there weren't any planes out, it was easy to enjoy the cool night air gliding across our feathers and making our hair whip around us.

"The first street should be right up here," Max said, slowly drifting closer to me on an updraft. I looked at where she was pointing and saw that the uneven clusters of businesses and stores was starting to mesh into the more residential areas. There were less Starbucks and more playgrounds; less early morning shoppers and more early morning dog walkers; and less light. So much less, that even with our advanced sight, Max and I had to get closer to the tree tops to be able to make out the individual houses.

"There," Max said, pointing to an old gray building to our left. We landed in the trees across the street and peeked at it through the bushes.

"That it?" I asked Max, though the pout of her lips and the hardening of her eyes already told me her answer.

"Nope," she said, standing and walking into a nearby front yard. I stood also and walked up beside her. Without a word we both shot into the sir, not even needing a running start thanks to the heavy wind.

The next hour or so were spent looking at five more old churches, all of which looked exactly alike to me. But Max seemed to be looking for something special, something that only she could see. Maybe an out of place shingle, or a crooked pillar, or—

"Fang!" Max called from a couple hundred yards above. I flipped over so I was flying upside down (do not try this at home) and floated on an air current for a while, looking at her expectantly.

"I think I see another one over there," she said, gesturing to another clump of gray and black in the distance.

"'Kay," I called back, flipping over again and rocketing up so I could fly beside her. I luckily hadn't had one of those weird heat flashes lately, but I was still being cautious and checking how I was feeling regularly. I really didn't feel like falling out of the sky today.

"We can land over there," I said, pointing to the street directly behind the church. There was a line of houses in the way, but the church was tall enough that we could see it over the roof tops.

Max and I crouched in the bushes and I started examining the back of the building, even though I had no idea what to look for. I was about to ask Max if this was it, but I noticed she wasn't even looking at the large, black steeples. Instead she was cocking her head at the house just across the street. As she continued to look at it her eyes seemed to shine, and a grin grew slowly spread across her face.

"I think that's it," she said after a moment of silence. "I am freaking _amazing._ We found it." She turned and gave me a superior look. "No wonder you worship me."

This is a fine example of Max's mood swings. Not five minutes ago she had almost been ready to call it a night and head back to Anne's in defeat, but now she was as sarcastic and big headed as ever. (Again, I say that as a term of endearment.)

I gave her a long-suffering look and rolled my eyes. Then I leaned around her to get a better look at the house. It was small and made mostly of brick, but chances were it was pretty expensive considering the location. And it looked nice and friendly, nothing like a dungeon or something that we'd usually have the luck of coming across.

"Really?" I asked. "And that's the church in the background?"

She nodded. "Yep. So what now?"

I sent her a look that said, _Oh no, this was _your_ idea._ "You're the leader."

She narrowed her eyes and then sprung to her feet. She grabbed my shoulder (rather roughly I might add) and started marching me across the street. And let me tell you, walking backwards onto a curb while being dragged by an oversensitive bird girl is not easy. We hadn't been on the front porch for two seconds before Max's hand shot out and rung the bell. Sometimes I wondered if she's cocky, or just doesn't think first. My money was on a mixture of the two.

After a moment I could here footsteps coming to the door. It opened and Max and I just stood there, looking at the woman. She had long strawberry-blond hair and bright blue eyes. She was tall and skinny with pale skin, the only color on it being the few freckles that were sprinkled across her nose.

"Yes?" she said, smiling warmly at us. She was drying her hands on a towel and hod a pen tucked behind her ear. "Can I help you?"

I glanced at Max and saw that she was just staring that the woman, still taking in her features. So me, being the more sensible of us two, looked around and noticed a copy of the _Post _lying in the bushes. _Bingo._

"Ma'am," I said with a straight face, "we're selling subscriptions to the _Wall Street Journal._"

She shook her head slightly and said, "Oh, no thanks. We already get the _Post._"

"Okay then," I said. When Max made no move to leave I grabbed her arm and to guide her across the yard. When we heard the door shut we instantly started running for the other side of the street.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy frickin' _crap!_" Max started saying and bouncing once we were under the covers of the trees. She had a big goofy grin on her face and I was still dragging her by the arm.

I rolled my eyes. "Calm down," I said and heard her take a few calming breaths. When we reached a clearing she stopped walking and I turned to look at her.

"Fang," she said. "Do you think that was her? I mean she really, _really _looked like Iggy."

I could see the hope in her eyes and tried to keep my usual pessimistic thoughts down. "Well..." I said, choosing my words carefully. "They _do _look a lot alike..."

She beamed at me and I gave her a half smile back. She opened her wings up and some of the brown and black flecked feathers brushed against my arm, making small goosebumps form.

"Um, Fang?" she said, looking to where my hand was still resting on her arm. "You can let go now."

"Okay." I said, keeping my hand on her arm. She looked at me for a while, and it was hard to keep my face straight, but I did.

"Move your hand!" she snapped at me, though I could hear the smile in her voice.

I didn't do anything for a second, then slowly moved my hand up and down her arm.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, laughing a little. She walked a few passes away and I smirk at her back. I spread out my own wings and we shot into the air, letting our wings carry us high above the tree tops before we cirlced back and started heading to Anne's.

So tonight had been okay. I mean, Max and I were pretty sure we'd just found Iggy's mom.

Only question was, is that a good or bad thing?

* * *

**Filler. I'm so terribly sorry. Not much I could do, these chapters were just sort of randomly put into the book. Next ones should be better (I think) and will be funnier (I hope).**

**Also, I just feel the need to do a little rant. Why is it that I live in a town that's barely 5 square mile, and yet we have more crime around here then the nearest big city. I mean really, I have a level three pedophile as a neighbor and 4 more living somewhere a few blocks away. And there was a murder suicide (the second one this year) about a month ago, followed by a death just this last doesn't count the three lock downs we've had this year for gun wielding morons hanging out near my school.  
**

**I guess I posted that on here so that you can all assume the worst if I ever just disappear from here. Or, you know, I got a life.**

**Iggy II: I thought I was your life.**

**Me: Oh Iggy! How sweet of you to remind me! -huggles-**

**Iggy II: -huggles-**

**Me: -jumps back- What the hell!? Did you just huggle!?**

**Iggy II: -evil laugh- The strategy works! -runs away...into a wall-**

**Me: Poor blind idiot...**

**Review?  
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	68. Protective Instincts

**Greetings people of FanFiction! Sorry I haven't been updating as often as I used to. It's just that my grandparents have been staying with us lately and I've had a ton of homework. But my gransparents went back to Wisconsin today and I realized that my English teacher hates me anyways, so one missing homework assignment wouldn't kill me.**

**Iggy II: But according to Sam's mom you could die from stomach ulcers caused by not saying good night to your elders.**

**Me: True, very true. Also! I have a Cookie to award today, to the only person so far to recognize where the last part of the last chapter came from. So the cookie goes to: The Flock's Bud! I love anyone who watches That 70's Show (Kelso is a smexeh man beast)**

**Iggy II: Um...ew.**

**Me: Oh hush. Now...CHAPTERRRRRRRRRR!!**

**Disclaimer: I only _wish _I owned the Maximum Ride series. Well, except for TFW, JP can keep that one. I mean, have you ever noticed how when you mix up the letters in TFW you get WTF. It's a siiiiign....

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**Fang POV (76-78)  
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The next day was pretty much the same as every other that week, except for one thing. Today me and Max had a giant, secret filled cloud hanging over our heads. Ever since we had gotten back the night before, Max had wanted to tell everyone about maybe finding Iggy's parents.

"But that's just the thing," I had told her as I forced her not to run down the hall and kick Iggy awake. "We _might _have found them. If it turns out it's not them, then Ig will be crushed."

Max had thought about it for a moment, and I can still remember the look of indecision in her eyes. But after a few minutes of mulling it over she sighed and gave up. We had gone to our separate rooms and gone to bed, waking up in the morning to pretend that nothing had happened. Though it was hard to sit right next to Iggy as we ate breakfast, knowing fully well where his parents might be. But there it was again, the uncertainty. The _might, _the _maybe._ And after Iggy's last episode when not finding his parents, I just didn't think it was worth getting his hopes up again.

But then there was the other side of the argument, the one that Max was repeating to me now as we sat on one of the benches during recess (I hate using that word, makes it sound like I'm a little kid or something).

"But, Fang," Max was saying, sitting cross legged on the bench beside me. She was turned to face me and was leaning her shoulder against the green back. She had her I'm-the-leader-and-what-I-say-goes face on, but that had never worked on me. Much like it wasn't working now. "Iggy's our friend. No, he's our _brother._ We can't just keep him in the dark about this. I mean what happens if we have to leave tomorrow and he never gets to meet his parents. He'd be pissed. And you _know_ we have to tell him eventually."

"And we will," I said, leaning my head back and closing my eyes. It was a nice sunny day with just enough heat to keep you warm, and just enough wind to keep you from sweating. "Just not now."

I sensed more than saw her raise her eyebrows at me. "And since when do _you_ make the decisions?" she asked.

I opened one eye and looked at her. "I don't exactly remember electing you leader either," I said.

She punched me on the arm and I winced, but I didn't say anything.

"I can make you flinch," she said, standing up. "So I'm leader."

I rolled my eyes and stood up too, school would be ending in a few minutes anyways. "Just side with me this once," I asked as we walked.

"You make it sound like I'm always against you," she said like it was the most absurd thing she'd ever heard.

"You _are _always against me."

"Nu-uh," she said childishly and I rolled my eyes again.

"Name one time you weren't," I challenged, kicking aside some pebbles with my shoe.

She thought about it for a second, her smile turning slowly to a frown, then a scowl.

"What?" I asked innocently. "Too many instances to choose from?"

She turned to glare at me and I smirked. As we reached the school doors she sighed in defeat and nodded. "Fine," she said. "I won't tell him. Yet."

"That's all I ask," I said. I knew that now would have been a good time to ask her when we were leaving this place (if ever) but I thought better of it. Max rarely ever let someone win an argument. And yes, I meant to put the _let _part in there, Max could always win if she really wanted to. So I thought it best not to push my luck and stay quiet. Not that hard when you're me.

"Hey, Nick!" I heard Lissa call down the hall towards us. I stopped and waited for her, though I could tell Max just wanted to continue down the hall.

"Oh, hey, Max. I didn't see ya there," Lissa said when she reached us. She took my hand and leaned up to kiss me on the cheek, which of course made my face turn a very (manly) shade of red. Max smirked at me over Lissa's head, but when I put my arm around Lissa's shoulders, her smile dropped and _she _turned red.

"Um...I better get going," she said, not looking at either of us.

"Oh, are you sure?" Lissa asked nicely. _See?_ I wanted to say to Max. _She's nice. Now stop acting so...so..._

It was in that moment that I realized how Max had been acting lately, but it was _also_ that moment that I realized how I'd been acting.

Jealous.

"Yeah," Max was saying, giving a forced smile. "I'm supposed to be meeting Sam outside the library."

Without even so much as a 'good-bye' she turned on her heal and went down the hall.

"Aww..." Lissa said.

"What?" I asked, pulling my arm off of her shoulders. She pouted a little at that, but then went back to her usual perky self.

"I just think it's sweet that Sam's found someone, you know?"

"Oh yeah, sure," I grumbled, but Lissa didn't seem to notice. Instead she started pulling me towards the front of the school where the bus loop was. By the time we'd walked all the way across campus the bell had rung and kids were piling out of class rooms.

"Mind walking me to my bus?" she asked after a few seconds of just standing there. I shrugged and she beamed up at me. And that just made me feel even worse about my little epiphany earlier. Not that I should feel bad. Max was with Sam. I was with Lissa. Me and Max were just acting weird because we weren't use to seeing each other with people outside the Flock. It was probably just a part of our survival instincts. Yeah, that's it.

"Well, here's my stop," Lissa said when we reached a big yellow bus with the number '10' written in big black letters on the side.

"'Kay," I said casually. "See you tomorrow."

She opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but then got distracted by something over my shoulder. I followed her gaze through the sea of kids surrounding us, and saw that Max and Sam were making their way towards us. Their hands were entwined and they were grinning widely at each other.

"Aren't they cute?" Lissa gushed as I walked her the last few feet to the bus door.

"Mhmm," I mumbled, my...er..._protective instincts _running at full blast. My stomach was clenched and I could feel anger rising in me. But I squelched both feelings and turned back to Lissa just as Max and Sam broke through the crowd.

"Bye," I said, but before I could turn to go, Lissa got on her tiptoes and kissed me. It was short, but it was defiantly a kiss. And by the way my Max-Want's-To-Kick-My-Ass senses were tingling, Max had for sure seen it.

She waved to me as she went up the steps and I nodded back, moving back a few paces so people could get by.

"Nick and Lissa, sitting in a tree..." I heard someone singing behind me. I turned to glare at Sam, but my expression froze when I saw that he had his arm around Max's waist.

"Well I best be going," he said, kissing Max lightly on the cheek. My _protective instincts_ were telling me to punch him in the gut, but I held back the reflex and instead nodded to him as he walked passed me to get on Lissa's bus.

There was a moment of awkward silence as me and Max just stood there, looking anywhere but each other. But I eventually found it in me to say something brilliant and totally _unakward_.

And I mean that in a totally sarcastic, _I_ _should have _done that way.

"So, you two seemed happy," I said to Max as we were forced onto the side walk by a bus going by.

Her face stayed blank, and even her eyes were unreadable. "Yep," she said simply. She didn't mention Lissa or the kiss, which surprised me. Usually Max would jump on any opportunity to make fun of me. But then again, things hadn't been exactly _normal _between us lately.

"Max!" We both spun around to see Nudge waving like crazy from the other end of the sidewalk. The others were standing next to her, gesturing for us to come over.

"We better go," Max said, all of the strangeness leaving her voice. It was weird how easy it was for her to snap back into Leader mode.

"Max!" Gazzy nearly shouted as we walked up to the group.

"Yeah?" Max asked.

He opened his mouth, probably to shout again, but was cut off by Iggy putting his hand over his mouth. Barely moving his lips he whispered, "We'll tell you when we're farther from here."

Max met my eyes for a brief second and we shared a look of confusion and curiosity. "Okay," she said, already starting to herd us away from the large group of students still piling out of the building.

"Now can I tell her?" Gazzy asked when we were in the air a few blocks from the school. The Gasman was barely flying straight, he was so excited with whatever it was he needed to tell us.

"Should be okay," I said, looking back at the small dot behind us that was the school.

"Okay," Gazzy said, taking a deep breath. But once more, Iggy cute him off.

"We found this in the basement. It's the files we were telling you about." Iggy flew around a gaping Gasman and hovered above Max, their wings moving in perfect time with each other. He brought his hand down and she took the folder he was folding out for her, holding tight to it so none of the papers would fly out.

"What is it?" I asked Max, gliding over to her.

"They're files," Gazzy said before Iggy could jump in again. "We got them when we went back into the basement. And yes, I know you said not to," He gave Max a serious look (well, as serious as Gazzy gets), "but we had to. We knew something was up, and that's the proof."

It was quiet for minute as we all watched Max go through the papers, her brow furrowing and a frown turning her lips downward.

"Fang," she said, her voice sounding weird. "You have to look at this."

She did the same maneuver as Iggy had before, and I grabbed the files carefully out of her hands. When I opened the folder I had to hold the edges tightly because of the wind that was whipping quickly around us. But I still got a pretty good look at the pages. They were all about people. Or more correctly, _patients._ There was page after page of conditions, treatments, symptoms, and a bunch of other stuff that was too confusing for me to understand. The weirdest thing is, all the patients were from a place called the Standish Home for Incurables, which had the exact same adress as our school.

"Wow," was all I could say. This was definitely not what I had been expecting.

"Yeah," Gazzy said, nodding. "I know."

"Only thing is, what does it mean?" Max wondered aloud.

No one had an answer, so we were all quiet until we landed in Anne's front yard. Her car was already parked in the driveway and we all exchanged looks of hesitation.

"We'll talk in the living room," Max decided, unlocking the door. When she opened it she looked over at me. "Get the computer out of your room and bring it down." I nodded and she turned to Nudge. "We might need you to do some research." Nudge nodded too and we all went into the house, only taking a second to set down our backpacks and then going straight to the living room. Except for me. I went up to my room and grabbed the laptop, then went back downstairs. I was in the room for less then two seconds before Nudge took the computer from me and started typing on it on the couch.

"Oh! I almost forgot," Gazzy said as he and the other got comfortable on the couch and Lay-Z-Boy. Max stood over by the TV and I leaned against the wall behind the couch. "When we were leaving the basement," Gazzy continued like he was telling a ghost story, "there was this door. We hadn't seen it the last time so I opened it up. And there was just this giant tunnel. I couldn't even see the end of it. It went straight under school and disappeared."

"A tunnel?" Max asked, looking from Gazzy to Iggy and back again. "Why would there be a tunnel under the school?"

"Excellent question," Gazzy said in a way that made it obvious he didn't have an answer. "Plus the secret files."

Max skimmed through the files again before looking to Nudge. "Nudge? Do a check on the school. Didn't I see something that said it had been there for, like, twenty years?"

"All the brochures said that," I put in. I was remembering some of the stuff Anne had given us a month or so ago so when she was first trying to get us to go. "Plus there's a plaque in the front hall that says Founded in 1985."

I went and leaned against the back of the couch, reading over Nudge's shoulder. She was typing at lightning speed and going through all the pages of the school's website. She even looked it up on Google, but all the links were from the last two years or so. Like it hadn't even existed till just recently.

"Huh," Nudge said after coming back to the school homepage. "The school's Web site says it's been in that building since 1985. But when I Google it, nothing shows up before two years ago."

"Did they change their name?" Iggy asked.

I shook my head. "Don't think so — it doesn't say that anywhere."

Max opened the files up for about the millionth time. "That Standish Home had the exact same address. And look at this office stationary — it has a little drawing of the building." She picked up a little scrap of paper and held it out to us. In the bottom corner was a picture of the front part of our school. Creepy.

"This can't be good," Max said, using the possible understatement of the year.

"Should we tell Anne about it?" Iggy asked from his perch on the windowsill.

Max looked over at me and I saw the hesitation in her eyes, even though her face was completely blank. I shooked my head the tiniest bit, left to right, and she nodded a bit back.

"What for?" she said to the others. "Either she knows about it and is in on everything, so we don't want to tip her off that we know, or she only knows what they told her and so can't help us."

We were silent for a minute, taking in what she had said. I agreed completely, but mainly because I didn't trust Anne as far as I could throw her.

As the seconds ticked by I started to tune into the noises coming from the kitchen. I could hear Anne moving around, making dinner, and what I assumed was the TV. I wasn't really paying attention until I heard the words "our nation's capitol". I listened closer and saw that everyone else seemed to be doing the same thing. "...three days before this year's budget was supposed to be presented, President Danning announced a stunning revision: He has taken back almost a billion dollars allotted to the military and is channeling it into public education, as well as nationwide shelters for the homeless women and children." The news caster guy was saying.

Silence.

I caught Max's eye and saw my shock reflected in her eyes and on her face. Angel and Total were giggling and laughing like mad and slapping high fives (and fours). Max just dropped her hands into her hands and started to rub her temples in slow cirlces.

_Angel,_ I thought as loudly as I could. When she looked up at me I knew I had her attention. _You are so dead._

Instead of running away in fear like any sensible being would do, she just stood there and grinned.

**Whatever you say Fang,** she sent back.

I sighed in frustration and ran a hand through my hair, which definitely needed to be cut. Just then Anne started calling us into the kitchen for dinner. As we sat down and ate, I thought about all the things that had happened to day. Which was a mixture of pros and cons.

The good (maybe finding Iggy's parents)

The bad (only _maybe _finding Iggy's parents)

The ugly (Sam)

When I thought that last part my stomach clenched again. Which only reminded me that on top of everything else going on, I had to figure out what the hell was happening with me and Max.

Sigh.

Damn protective instincts.

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**Yes, yes, I know. There's another chapter to this day, but I'm just gonna add that to the next chapter, because this ones getting a little rambly and I haven't updated in a few days. Which I've really meant to. I just didn't get a chance to finish this yesterday. **

**Iggy II: Not to mention all the homework you _still _haven't done.**

**Me: Hey, all I have to do is come up with a name for a baby Unicorn who doesn't know he's a Unicorn. Then I'm set.**

**Iggy II: You have the strangest teachers...**

**Me: -nods- I know...**

**Review? (Suggestions for names for a baby Unicorn would be great. So far all I have if Greg. And that doesn't exactly scream baby Unicorn to me.)  
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	69. A Little Bit Better

**Um...I had something really important to say...but I forgot...so...yeah...**

**Iggy: -eye roll- A Cookie, an ad, and a Unicorn.**

**Me: Ah Iggy II, you're the reason I fired my secretary.**

**Iggy II: You had a secretary?**

**Me: Yeah. You don't think Jammies hits you for fun do you?**

**Iggy II: ...**

**Me: Anywho! While Iggy takes out a restraining order and I get my updates in order, y'all can read the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: How many times do I have to tell you? I. Don't. Own. Maximum. Ride.

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**Fang POV (78)**

11:00. Sitting.

11:01. Still Sitting.

11:02. Checking clock.

11:03. Sitting...again.

After dinner Max had called a Flock meeting. Only problem was, Anne wouldn't leave us alone to talk; said we need more "family time". So we arranged to move it till tonight. Which is why I was currently bored out of my mind at a little after 11 at night.

There was a soft beeping noise and I brought my watch up to the light so I could read the digital. 11:05. Show time.

I got off the bed with the springs squeaking only a little and glided over to the window. It was already open so I didn't have to worry about any noise there. Then again, Anne only had normal hearing, so a little noise couldn't hurt.

I decided to be careful anyway and jumped carefully out the window, landing softly on the tree right beside the house. I could see Iggy sitting on another branch, his feet swinging back and forth.

"Ready?" he asked, his eyes still turned up towards the moon.

"Yep," I said, getting into a crouched position so I could take off. "There's a branch two feet in front of you and another four feet up."

"Got it," he said and slipped off the branch, his wings immediately opening and lifting him into the air. Once he was in the sky with four other specks I jumped off the branch, the springy wood sending me a few extra feet up. My wings opened up seemingly of their own accord, and I flew swiftly up to where the others were waiting for me.

"Where to?" I asked Max, drifting up beside her.

"I was thinking we could check out that cave you found," she said. I'd been doing some exploring when we were first staying with Anne, just sort of flying around. But when it had started raining I'd been forced to land, the only shelter being a cave tucked away in the side of a hill. I'd guessed by the size and location of it that it was probably where the bats we'd seen were staying. And the millions of little winged critters on the ceiling were a pretty good clue.

After about twenty minutes of flying, a large rock face came into view. "Over there," I called to others, taking up the head of our formation.

The cave had a huge entrance about 50 feet up the side of the cliff that was obstructed by thick vines. I landed lightly on a small, exposed part of the ledge and started pulling the think greenery apart, making a large hole for the others to enter through. I signaled to them and then ducked inside. A few seconds later Nudge landed, who was followed closely by Iggy. Angel came through next, landing lightly on her feet, her pure white wings glinting in the moon light that shone through cracks in the vines. Gazzy, however, wasn't nearly as graceful, and would have fallen on his face if I hadn't grabbed his elbow at the last second. Max was the last one through, her large wings sagging around her shoulders as she stood out of the crouch she had landed in. With the only light coming from behind her and none of her features visible, she looked like the hero out of some action movie. Ironic, because she really was supposed to save the world.

"Max?" Nudge said. "Can we have a few minutes to just look around in here?"

"Sure," she said, though I could tell that she just wanted to talk, go home, and go to sleep. But Max didn't say anything as the kids and Iggy wandered into the back of the cave, using the penlight I had brought to see. I warned them not to shine it at the ceiling, because it would wake the bats. But I soon realized that none of them were even there because it was night and all. We'd just have to keep an eye on the horizon to make sure we weren't still here when they got back.

"Ugh," Angel said, plugging her nose as she and Iggy reappeared out of the back of the cave. "It stinks back there."

"Where are the others?" Max asked, craning her neck to see farther into the darkness.

"Nudge got her shoe stuck in guano," Iggy said, snickering. "Gazzy's helping her get it out."

"And you didn't help because...?" Max asked.

Iggy shrugged. "I'm blind, I'd just fall in. And Angel's too small. She'd never be able to pull it out."

Max opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off by a triumphant shout of, "Yes!" followed by Nudge and Gazzy running towards the front of the cave.

"It's an old pair," Nudge said as she slipped her sneaker back on. "And the poo only got on the tip. I can clean it when we get back to Anne's." Just more proof that we're tougher than other kids: Our girliest member doesn't even care about getting crap on her shoe.

"Alright," Max said, clapping her hands once to get our attention. "Sit down or whatever you want to do. We need to talk."

Gazzy went and sat at the mouth of the cave, slightly to the right of the opening I'd made. Iggy sat on a low, flat rock and let Angel lean against his side. Nudge stayed standing towards the back of the cave. She was half in, and half out of the light; her dark hair almost blending in with the shadows.

"I bet no people have ever been in here," Gazzy mussed, soundly a lot more calm and serious then he usually did. He leaned over the edge of the cliff, whistling softly when he saw how high up we were. "They'd have to rock climb just to get up here."

"I wish we could see the back," Nudge said, her back to us so that all you could see of her in the darkness was her yellow shirt and the sparkle of the sequins on her jeans.

"Yeah, me too," Iggy said, though he didn't sound bitter or anything.

"Okay, guys," Max said, standing towards the middle of the cave. "Listen, I've been thinking, and I really think it's time for us to move on. This has been a great break, but we're all rested, healed up, and we should disappear again."

I personally felt like doing a little happy dance (in my head of course) but wasn't exactly surprised when the others remained silent.

"I mean," she continued, "Ari knows we're close by. He attacked us on the way home from school — he probably has cameras trained on Anne's. The head hunter has it in for us. Now the weird files from the school, the mystery tunnel — it's all adding up to an ugly picture." She paused for a second, letting her eyes linger on Angel, who just beamed back at her. That seemed to be a common reaction with her nowadays whenever she was yelled at (aloud or mentally). "We should clear out of here before all this stuff starts hitting the fan." Max finished.

Nudge and Gazzy shared looks of doubt from across the cave, and Angel dropped her head onto Iggy's shoulder. He patted her golden curls and sighed softly, his eyes looking blankly at a spot on the ground. There was again silence. I thought about speaking up, saying that I agreed with Max. Maybe that would persuade the kids more, let them know that she wasn't the only one having a bad feeling about this. But I wouldn't do that until she really needed my help with this. Max was strong, she not only can handle herself, but she _likes _to.

"I mean, maybe this is where we learn to think smart, stay one step ahead of the game instead of having the game bite us in the ass." Max paused again, put this time I saw her eyes unfocus and her head tilt to the side the tiniest bit, like she was listening to something, and I new it was the Voice. But then she scowled, which was an indicator that the voice was disagreeing with her.

And that's what stumped me.

You see, I really wanted to trust Max and believe that she was making the right decision, and I did. But...the Voice had never been wrong before. And whenever she ignored it, something bad happened. So as I watched her clear her irritated expression into one of determination and defiance, I started to wonder: what if Max was wrong? What if this wasn't the right choice?

"It's just that..." Nudge began, but hesitated. I saw her glance at Gazzy, who gave her a small, encouraging nod. She looked back at Max and continued. "Well, Thursday's Thanksgiving. We only have half a day of school Wednesday, and then it's Thanksgiving."

"We've never had a real Thanksgiving dinner before," Angel said in such a small, sad voice that it could make puppies cry. "Anne's going to make turkey and pumpkin pie."

Max rolled her eyes, her irritation turning into sarcasm. "Yeah, and _that's_ worth staying in town for — Anne's home cooking."

The kids flinched at her hard tone, and Iggy squeezed Angel's shoulders, sending a quick "watch it" look to Max, who obviously missed it. She was too busy looking around at the kids' hurt and crestfallen expressions. You could tell she didn't want to be doing this, that she just wanted to say it was okay to stay and that we'd be safe. But this was Max, she wouldn't lie to them, even if it was the easiest thing to do.

Max took a deep breath, bowing her head and closing her eyes. When she looked back up at us, I could see the hesitation in her eyes. Like she didn't want to admit something. "I'm just — really antsy," she explained quietly, not meeting any of our gazes. "I'm twitchy and nervous and feel like I want to be screaming through the sky on the way out of town, you know?"

I just stared at her, utterly shocked. That was the first time Max had ever admitted to being anything other than completely calm and confident. Her shoulders were a little slumped, like a weight had been lifted. Of course the kids didn't notice the significance of this admittance though, and continued to argue their side.

"We know," Nudge said. "It's just — she's going to make sweet potatoes with rasins and little marshmallows on top."

Max straightened up, her relaxed shoulders going back to their normal rigidness. Her eyes flashed with irritation and I watched as she clamped her jaw shut, probably holding back some sarcastic comment, which was her usual form of self defense when she couldn't use her fists.

She grimaced and turned away from us, looking at the sky through some of the holes in the wall of vines. I looked around at the others and saw that they didn't seem to notice that they had hurt her. Except for Iggy; his eyes were apologetic watching her even though he couldn't see her. He'd probably heard something in her voice that tipped him off. Sensing my eyes on him he looked me dead in the eyes and gave me a 'sorry' look. But it wasn't me they were hurting.

After a minute or so of silence the kids started to realize something was up. But right as Angel was standing up to go to her, Max turned around and said with a blank expression, "Okay, so we'll stay for Thanksgiving." Nudge and Gazzy beamed at her and Angel grinned so wide it looked like her face was about to slit in two. Iggy just nodded, but I could see him smiling.

I was silent.

"Those better be some good sweet potatoes," I heard Max mutter as the others hurried out of the cave and into the sky. Before she jumped out I grabbed her wrist and waited for her to look at me. When she did I gave her a joking smile. "Thank you, Max," I said.

She looked at me like I had grown a third wing. "Don't be nice," she said, walking slowly backwards to the mouth of the cave. "It's scary."

I rolled my eyes and followed her out of the cave. "I should've known you were allergic to kindness."

She sent me one last glare/smile and shot off towards the rest of the Flock, who all fell behind her in a big 'V'. I joined up with them and flew in silence. Thinking that just maybe I'd made things just a little bit better.

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**I know the end was corny, but I think it was sweet. So deal. And yes, I know this was only one chapter from the book, but I just couldn't find a way to mix it in with the next few chapters. I'll prbably have the next one up tonight or tomorrow morning though. (And by 'morning' I mean noon to 2 in the afternoon.)**

**Iggy II: Ahem. Updates.**

**Me: Oh yeah! I nearly forgot. Well, here they are.**

**The Cookie: "Oh my god...curse my random mind... I got to the part that said, "...iggy cute him off." And, being me, i couldn't just wave off a typo. No! I had to imagine Iggy being so cute as to where he stopped Gazzy from talking! Iggy's so cute! You subconsciously know he's so cute, people just stop talking around him! God Bless your typos!" -Passion Scarlet for last chapter. I love this review, it just makes me giggle.**

**An Ad: This is sort of an Off Site Cookie. And it goes to an add for GaiaOnline. The ad said, "You may have already won! Click here for your free lemur!" Then these little people pop up and start going, "I think I just peed myself because of it's awesomness" and "With an add like that, it has to be great". Just thought I'd share that with ya.  
**

**A Unicorn: I couldn't pick a name, so I put a poll up in my profile with the names I like best. Please vote!**

**The next chapter will be up soon. Promise.**

**Review? (Only 3 more until 500!!!!!)  
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	70. Their Preference For Burritos

**Okay, my sister was just here and she saw that I was reading the second Max Ride manga, and she seriously thought that Fang and Iggy were girls. I nearly cried I was laughing so hard. **

**Iggy II: -mutters-**

**Me: Oh, come on. She was talking about Iggy. Not you.**

**Iggy II: I'm his clone, therefore we look exactly alike.**

**Me: How would you know, you're blind! I could have made you look like Chuck Norris for all you know.,**

**Iggy II: It would be better then looking like a _girl._**

**Me: -_-**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or any of it's girly looking characters.**

**(Also, there was an excerpt for FANG in the back of the manga. Does anyone know if it would be illegal for me to retype it into my profile? Because I really want to.)

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**Fang POV (79 & 80)**

Ah, Thanksgiving. A time of peace, family, and sleep inducing turkey.

It was sort of strange actually. The Flock and I had never had a real Thanksgiving meal, not even when we were back in Colorado with Jeb. We'd never had that much money, so spending 30 bucks on an over grown chicken didn't seem very sensible for us. But we did have our traditions. Usually we'd go KFC and get a bucket of chicken (but we'd call it turkey) and 7 of those bowls of mashed potatoes and gravy. And if we were feeling really crazy, we'd go into town and get a pie from the local store.

But we'd never had a sit down meal with cranberry sauce, stuffing, and a turkey that was so big it could be a new member of the Flock. So as you can imagine, we were all sort of nervous about how this would turn out. Some (Max) not as much as others (Anne).

"Did the thing pop yet?" Anne was asking for the third time in the last thirty seconds. She had her face so close the the little oven window that I wouldn't be surprised if she got a sunburn (or would it be an oven-burn....).

"Uh, not yet," Max said back. "But it looks like it's doing okay." I saw her lift the stuffing package and compare the picture to the beast in the oven. (We weren't calling it a 'bird' for obvious reasons). "See? It's the right color."

"Well, it's supposed to be done when that thing pops up," Anne said, not looking away from the oven.

Max sighed and I smirked slightly, turning back to my own task. Anne had assigned Max to turkey duty (Why she was even letting Max in the kitchen was beyond me) and Iggy was doing cranberry sauce. Nudge was making stuffing and Gazzy was beating his head against a wall, trying to remember which fork went where and what the difference between a normal and a soup spoon was. Angel was...somewhere. Probably plotting world domination or something.

And I, the ever so artistic Fang, was making mashed sweet potatoes. Well, Iggy had made it, but he had told me to decorate it. I'm not really sure _why _I was decorating it though. I mean, it was all gonna end up in the same place whether the rows of marshmallows were parallel or not. But I still tried my hardest to make it pretty. I put the mini marshmallows in neat lines and tried (unsuccessfully) to not eat the ones that fell onto the counter.

"I want a drumstick," I heard Total say from behinds me. I glanced over my shoulder to see him weaving around Max's legs.

"Get in line," she said, walking over to me. She stopped behind me and I felt more then saw her looking over my shoulder. By the time I put the last little white puff on the casserole I could hear the sarcastic wheels spinning in her head. I turned so I was facing her and gave her a _look_, daring her to comment.

"You're an artist," she said, trying to be serious and failing miserably. I turned back to the dish and surveyed my work. The rows were all neat and perfectly placed. It looked surprisingly good for someone who'd never done this before. At least I thought it did. Like I said, I'm no pro in the arts of sweet potatoes.

"We've all got crosses to bare," I said, rearranging some of the marshmallows. She moved to the oven that was on my left and peeked in. When she straightened up she was looking at the doorway to the dining room.

"Anne?" she called. "The little white thing popped up. I think it's ready."

"Oh, my God!" Anne shouted, running into the room. I chuckled softly at her reaction and saw Max roll her eyes. "It popped?" Anne asked, reaching for the oven door. She hesitated for a second and I turned to look at her. she was looking questioningly up at Max. "What if the popper thing is wrong. What if it's not really working."

Max gave her a stern look and said, "Take the turkey out of the oven."

I was half expecting Anne to salute and go, "Yes ma'am." But instead she took a deep breath and said, "Right. Okay."

Max and I shared a look before I started carrying the casserole dish into the dining room. Nudge and Iggy were helping Gazzy put the finishing touches on the table, and Angel was placing everyone's drinks by their plates. I set the casserole between two large pillar candles and went back into the kitchen.

"Almost ready?" I asked, and Max turned to look at me.

"Almost," Anne said, her head still bent towards the turkey on the counter. Max mouthed to me _not even close._ I rolled my eyes and went into the other room, surveying our set up. There were candle all over the table and Anne had even bought some pine cones to put in a little basket. The table cloth was pearly white and there was more silverware than there was food. But all in all, it looked very nice and fancy. Definitely not what we were used to, but I think we could survive.

"Okay," Anne said about ten minutes later. She came into the room balancing a large platter in her arms. On the platter was the turkey that she'd worried about all day. It was golden brown and look _really _good. I was pretty sure I heard Nudge's stomach growl and saw some drool on Gazzy's lips. "Dinner is served," Anne said, setting the turkey on the table so gently it was like she was handling a baby.

As we all got settled into our seats I started to feel a little over heated. At first I thought it was just because of the sweatshirt I was wearing, so I took that off and set it on the back of my chair. But even in my gray short sleeve shirt I was sweating. I reached out and pushed to closest candle farther away, disguising the gesture by grabbing my drink as I pulled my arm back. I took a long gulp of water, relishing in the coolness that ran down my throat and spread across my chest. I had to stop drinking though because it would look strange if I downed all my water before we'd even started eating.

**Do you want me to tell Max?** Angel's voice echoed in my head.

_No, _I thought back. _It's probably just the candles. I'll be fine._

I saw her look at me from across the table with a doubtful look on her face. But she didn't say anything, instead grabbing the bowl of stuffing from Gazzy and putting some on her plate. Next to her, at the head of the table, was Anne. Next to Anne was Max, then me, Iggy, Nudge at the other end of the table, and then Gazzy. We were passing each dish around the table and I felt a little pang of loss when I was forced to stab into the sweet potatoes. All that hard work, destroyed in seconds. But I was really hungry, so the guilt wasn't too bad.

I was just getting up to start carving the turkey (though moving was a little uncomfortable because of the heat flash) when Anne held up her hand. I sat back down, Max and I sharing a confused look.

"How about we go around and each give thanks individually?" Anne suggested. I was expecting someone to protest, but I think we were all too eager to eat to argue. "Ariel? Why don't you go first?"

After an encouraging look from Max, Angel nodded a little and looked around the table. "I'm thankful for my family," she started, gesturing to each of us. "I'm thankful I have a dog. I'm thankful I have Max to take care of me." She glanced at Anne and quickly added, "And I'm thankful that we've had this good time here. I really like this place."

Anne smiled her approval and turned to the Gasman. "Thank you. Now Zephyr?"

"Um, I'm thankful for all this food," Gazzy said in a rush. "And, you know, my family. And being here."

"Krystal?"

"I'm thankful for food and my brother and sister," Nudge said, taking a deep breathe to continue. "And I'm thankful I have big brown eyes and long lashes." Que group eye roll. "I'm thankful that we could stay here for a while. I'm thankful for MTV. And gummy worms."

"All right," Anne said quickly while Nudge took another gulp of air. She looked quickly to Iggy. "Jeff?" she said.

"Uh, what Zephyr said," Iggy replied, sending me and evil (and surprisingly accurate) grin. "Fnick's turn."

Ah, crap. I had really hoped someone would refuse to continue the game, therefore saving me from saying anything. Guess not. I racked my brain for something short but not so short that it would be seen as rude (though Iggy and Gazzy seemed to have gotten off pretty easy). I finally cleared my throat, ignoring the heat for a few seconds, and said, "Me too. Family, food. Place to stay." I glanced sideways at Max, our eyes locking for a second and felt another wave of heat hit me. I looked away quickly, hoping she hadn't noticed how my face flushed with the sudden heat. Damn, how had she dealt with this?

Everyone looked at Max, though none of us were expecting some huge speech. The Flock wasn't very big on mushy gooey emotional stuff, even little things like saying what we were thankful for. Well, except for Nudge. She could probably talk to Congress about how much she loved tacos and not even blink when they admitted their preference for burritos.

But I digress.

Max looked back at us, looking thoughtful. Angel was smiling a little, probably reading Max's thoughts, whatever they were. But eventually Max looked at no one in particular and said, "Uh, I'm thankful that we've had this time here. It's been really great. And, you know, thankful for my family, and for having plenty of food."

Anne waited a second before speaking. "My turn, then," she said. "Thank you all for helping make our Thanksgiving meal. I never could have done it myself. To me, it's even more meaningful that we all worked together to make our dinner. I've never had children, never been that domestic. But these last weeks with you here, well, I've gotten a real idea of everything that I've been missing. I like the fact that my life is centered around yours. Amazingly, I like having a household of children."

I felt Max jump next to me and glanced at her to see she was glaring at the table. Then I heard faint chuckles from under and kicked my foot out, nudging Total's side lightly but still enough for him to yelp. I held back a smirk and focused back on Anne's speech.

"It's chaotic, and tons of work, and expensive, and I get called to the school, and every night I fall into bed completely exhausted and know that I have to do it all again in the next day. And now I wouldn't want it any other way." I felt uneasy, and not just because of the heat (which was starting to go away), but because I sensed some kind of deeper meaning to her words. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to know what she was getting at.

"So I sincerely hope that this Thanksgiving is only the first of a long line of Thanksgivings we'll share together." She paused and gave all of us a meaningful look, her gaze lingering on Angel.

"Because I would like to adopt all of you."

Okay, I was shocked. My jaw actually dropped and my eyes widened to the point that it hurt. Nudge looked like she had just been given an hour to run around a mall and get whatever she wanted for free. Gazzy looked as stunned as I imagined I did and Iggy's hand was frozen about three inches from his mouth, his fork stilled half way in his mouth. Angel looked torn between excitement and confusion, her eyes going instantly to Max.

Max was just sitting there, completely still. No one had said anything yet, and one by one, we turned to look at her. She was looking down at her plate with her hair hanging in a short curtain, making it so we couldn't see her expression. But I was guessing it was one of confusion, anger, and more confusion. And maybe just the littlest bit of sadness.

Finally she looked up, running her hand backwards through her hair. She had cleared her face and look at Anne with blank eyes.

"Well?" Anne said finally, her voice sounding overly loud in the dead silence. "What do you kids say?"

We were still looking at Max. She looked away from Anne and back down at her plate, her muscles were tense. We were all waiting for her to jump up and run out the door. But she didn't. She just shrugged and took a bite of stuffing.

Anne was starting to look worried and a little embarrassed. "Max? Nick? Kids? If you really don't like the idea then—" Max cut her off.

"No," she said, her voice deceptively calm. "We just...I think we should think about it first."

Slowly Anne nodded and got up. As she carved the turkey we all seemed to thaw out of our states of shock and went back to normal. There was polite conversation for most dinner and compliments about the food. But as soon as she finished her food, Max got up and went to the living room. When the rest of us were done we followed.

"Fang," Max said quietly while the others sat in front of the TV. When I met her eyes she glance meaningfully at Iggy. I thought it over for a second and then nodded. At least we didn't have to discuss Anne's adoption plan right now.

"Um, guys?" Max said, calling their attention from the cartoons on the TV. "The other day I saw the news and..." I won't bore you with the long, drawn out explanation that Max recited. I will tell you that Iggy was a lot calmer than I thought he'd be. I'd been expecting him to blow up in our faces and get pissed for not telling him. But he just looked around with anxious eyes.

"Can we meet them?" he asked after a few second of silence. The younger kids were sill in shocked silence at Max and mine little announcement.

"If you want to," Max said. Then she winced slightly and held her stomach. "Not tonight though. I think we should let the food settle."

"Tomorrow then?" he asked, sounding hopeful. Max smiled at him and nodded. Then remembering that he couldn't see it she said, "I'm nodding Ig."

He smiled — no, beamed at her. The kids came out of their second shock of the night and started asking a million questions, which Max tried to answered. But Iggy just sat there and smiled, looking out the window towards the dark sky.

Tomorrow was going to be _very_ interesting.

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**Sorry! I said I'd have this up earlier, but I slept in until noon. But here it is. Hope you like.**

**Also, has anyone else read the second MR manga? And if so did you notice how much one sided Fudge was in it? I mean Nudge was acting all pissed and crap when Max kissed Fang, and half her line were "Fang!" or "Fang...". I'm just saying. **

**And the excerpt for FANG was _amaziling! _Fang is a lot more talkative in the 6th book. And very calm, even when Max gets ran over by a camel (long story). Can't wait for it to finally come out!**

**Also, I'm working on an idea for another Max Ride fanfic. I might have it up on Friday or sometime next weekend. It's going to be original, not just a redo of POVs. I hope you guys check it out when I put it up.**

**But until then...**

**Review? (I know, subtle aren't I?)**


	71. James and Mr Emotionless

** Due to popular demand, the unicorn has been named Chuck Norris.

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**Fang POV (81 & 82)**

So after all the Thanksgiving drama was over, we went up to Max's room. The kids wanted to know everything about Iggy's mom. What did she look like? Did she have a pretty smile? Was the house nice? Did she smell good? Well, Gazzy wanted to know that last one. Why? No clue.

But Iggy remained quiet, looking thoughtfully into space. He hadn't spoken much since we'd told him, and his smile was turning slowly to a frown.

"Iggy?" Max asked him, finally noticing his subdued attitude.

"Hm?" he asked, turning towards her.

"Do you want to go see them?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course!" he said immediately. But after he thought about if for a second he scrunched his brows and said, "I'm not sure."

"What?" Nudge nearly busted my eardrums with her sudden shriek. "How can you not be sure?"

"It's what we've talked about before," Iggy said, looking away from us. "I mean, I'm blind now. I have wings. I'm a weird, mutant hybrid, and they've never seen anything like me. Maybe they would want the original, all-human me, but..." he trailed off, his voice ending in a soft whisper.

Max nodded, understanding. I, for one, would never just go up to my parent's front door like we were about to with Iggy's. And they probably wouldn't want me there anyway.

"I understand," Max said. "But it's up to you. We'll support you, whatever you decide."

"Let me sleep on it," Iggy said, standing up.

"No prob." The others then went off to bed, leaving me and Max to talk for a while. But eventually she got tired and I went back to my room, falling asleep surprisingly fast.

The next morning Iggy told us that he was still up to going tonight. So if you skip a little bit forward, say...8 hours, then you get the current scene. It was similar to the one last night, all of us sitting in Max's room, talking about Iggy's possible new family. But the over all mood had changed. Yesterday we'd all been excited and happy for Ig. And we were still happy for him, just ... not so excited. We all knew what it meant if Iggy decided to stay with them. But we were all holding those feelings of dread off until later; when we were all in our rooms and could deal with the loss by ourselves.

"You know, I here humans only eat three small meals a day," Gazzy was saying to Iggy as we waited for Max to finish packing his pack for him.

Iggy smiled a little, ruffling Gazzy's hair. "Silly humans," he said.

Gazzy mumbled something along the lines of, "It wasn't a joke," but I didn't get a chance to ask him what he'd said, because Max spoke up.

"You don't have to come, Gaz," she said, throwing Iggy his stuffed bag. "We'll give you all the details when we get back."

"No, I'm coming," he said, pulling his jacket on rather roughly. "But shouldn't we eat something first? Just in case, you know, they don't feed him enough?"

Iggy shook his head, patting his stomach. "Nah," he said. "I'm still full from dinner last night."

"Yeah," Nudge agreed. "That was _sooo_ good. And I like how we each got to say what we were thankful for. And did you notice how we all said family? Well, we all said food too..." Nudge trailed off, turning to talk to Angel.

"Yes, let's give thanks for what we have by _leaving_ it," Gazzy said with thick sarcasm.

"Gazzy, I told you — you don't have to come," Max said.

"Of course I have to come," he grumbled, pulling on his sneakers and tying them extra slow. I couldn't blame him though, losing Iggy was going to be hard on all of us. But mostly Gazzy. Iggy was like a big brother, best friend, dad, and partner in crime all rolled into one for him. And he may act tough, but he was still just a kid.

Nudge and Angel started jabbering about how they excited they were. I opted to block it out though, it would be the same as what they'd been saying all day.

I looked down at my watch, the numbers reading 3 o'clock exactly. We had chosen to go during the day, just so we'd be sure to catch them while they were home. I opened Max's window as far as it would go and stepped aside for Nudge to go through. As soon as her wings had caught an updraft Gazzy was out the window. Hopefully a nice long flight would help him calm down.

"There you go," I said, hoisting Angel onto the windowsill. She smiled and jumped out after the others. Iggy hesitated a moment and I nodded to Max. She went to the window and jumped out, her wings blocking the light from the sun for a few seconds.

"Come on, Ig," I said. "You're the last one."

He nodded stiffly and stepped carefully onto the sill, just sitting there and looking out at the backyard.

"Jump or I'll push you," I said.

He rolled his eyes but leaped off. I followed and shut the window, making sure it was still unlocked. I caught up the others and we started heading North East to DC.

It was weird though, flying during the day. Even when we'd been on the run a few month ago, we'd flown mostly during the night. It was easier to not be seen, and our wings didn't heat up as fast. But I had to admit, it was nice to fly in the sun. The rays warmed each feather on my wings and the breeze wasn't nearly as cold as it was at night. It felt nice.

As we flew, my mind started to wonder. I thought about how there were two ways this day could turn out. One, Iggy's parents didn't want him and we all went back home to have some Virgin Screwdrivers (plain orange juice). Or, they would take him with open arms and we'd be forced to leave behind a best friend and brother.

So either way, it was going to be hell.

Luckily (or unluckily, depends on how you look at it), I didn't have to dwell on it much longer, because I could already see the Griffiths' house in the distance.

We all landed in the woods across the street from the house. Instead of hiding in the bushes like before, we just stood there. Gazzy mumbled about how Anne's house was bigger, and Nudge and Angel gushed about how cute it was. Max described it to Iggy in short, clipped sentences. I guess I wasn't the only one stressed about this.

Max and Iggy exchanged a few words, none of which I could hear, and finally Max nodded to me, the signal to go forward. I grabbed Angel and Gazzy's hands and we started walking across the road. Nudge tried humming the song from _The Wizard of Oz_, but it turned into more of a funeral march by the time we reached the porch. Max pulled Angel's jacket tighter against the cold wind that had started up once we landed. The clouds looked dark and sinister, not like the white fluffy one's we'd flown here under.

Me and the kids stood at the bottom of the porch steps, Iggy only a few feet in front of us. Max strode forward with more confidence then I'm sure she felt and rang the bell. It sounded loud and out of place in the otherwise silent neighborhood. After a few moments of stressful waiting, the door opened.

Nudge gave a small squeal when she saw the woman I had meet the first time we was here. She looked even more like Iggy now that we had the two side by side. Gazzy squeezed my hand and I held it tightly back. Now wasn't a good time to go all Mr. Emotionless on them, especially Gaz.

"Um, hello ... ma'am," Max said, looking extremely uncomfortable under the woman's confused gaze. "I saw you on TV, where you said you lost your son?"

The woman frowned, sadness glazing over her previously clear blue eyes. "Yes?"

Max stepped to the side so Iggy was visible. "I think this is him."

Wow. Smooth Max. _Real_ subtle.

A bunch of different emotions flashed across the woman's face. Sadness, anger, confusion, and then ... recognition?

Her mouth kept opening and closing, but no noise came out. She took a step back and put her hand over her heart, her eyes filling with tears. Max took Iggy's hand and gave him an encouraging (but useless) look. His normally white face was flushed and he had an almost anxious look in his eyes. _It must be torture to not know what's going on..._

As I thought that a man stepped into view in the doorway. I has thought Iggy and his mom looked alike, but that was mostly their coloring and height. The guy had an older, more mature version of Iggy's face and his stunned expression was almost identical to Iggy's.

"Wha...," he looked at us in confusion, is gaze landing on Iggy.

"We saw you on TV," Max repeated. "We think this might be the son you lost, fourteen years ago." She put her arm through Ig's and they took a big step forward. Me and the rest of the Flock did the same, on the off chance this was some uber-elaborate trap. "We call him Iggy," Max said, taking another smaller step forward. "But I think his last name is really Griffiths, like yours."

"James?" The woman started reaching toward Iggy, but then hesitated and look at her husband. "Tom — is this James?" she asked, hope shining in her eyes.

The man (Tom, apparently) swallowed and moved aside. "Please," he said to us, "come in, all of you."

We all hesitated, even Iggy. It was terrible to think so, but this really could be a trap. A very cruel and cleverly put together one, but a trap nonetheless. Then again, it might be real. So when Max said, "Okay," we all went forward willingly.

I went in first, Max holding the door, and we shared a look. It was one of those keep-an-eye-out-but-don't-be-obvious looks, so I just nodded in response. Everything looked fairly normal, and the couple wasn't trying to attack me, so that was a plus. In fact, they were so fixated with Iggy that I bet they hadn't even noticed me.

As we followed the two into a living room, I noticed how much smaller this place was then Anne's. Then again, it would probably look a bit bigger if there weren't two adults and six overgrown bird kids all crammed into one room.

"Um, sit down," the woman said, sitting on the couch across from Tom. Iggy sat down between her and Max, and I stayed standing, my arms crossed over my chest. Gazzy stood by me in a similar position.

"I don't know where to begin," the woman (I'm just gonna call her Mrs. G) said. She looked at Iggy questioningly when he just sat there, looking straight ahead.

"Um, I'm blind," Iggy said, sounding a little embarrassed. "They, uh — well, I can't see anymore."

"Oh, _dear,_" Mrs. G said, her expression too mixed for me to decipher. I couldn't tell if she was sad for Iggy, or disappointed.

"We don't know what happened," Tom said, putting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. "You —our son was taken out of this house fourteen years ago. You were — he was only four moths old. There was no trace. I hired detectives. We —." He stopped suddenly, looking away and blinking rapidly.

"It's a long, weird story," Max said. "And we're not one hundred percent positive. But it really does look like Iggy's the baby you lost."

Mrs. G took Iggy's hand. "I feel he is," she said, looking confidently at Iggy. "You might not be positive, but I feel it. I can tell. This is my son."

_This is it_, I thought. _Iggy's going home._

"I have to say — I think you're right," Tom said from his chair. "He — it sounds funny, but he really looks just the same as he did when he was a baby."

I felt my lips try to turn up in a smug smile, but it turned quickly to a grimace. I cleared it from my face just as Max glanced at me. Damn, it was hard being Mr. Emotionless without being emotionless. I looked down at the girls and saw that they were holding hands and looking at their feet, but neither were crying. Nor was Gazzy, and it was strange how their expressions were so much like mine and Max's when we were trying to be strong for them.

"I know!" Mrs. Griffiths' sudden exclamation made me jump. "James had a small red birthmark on his back," she said excitedly, "towards the back. I asked the doctor about it, but he said it was fine."

"Iggy has a birthmark," Max said slowly. We all knew it was there, Angel used to draw dresses and smiley faces on it when she was younger. Iggy lifted the hem of his shirt without being asked, revealing the oval shaped red mark on his side. Mrs. G gasped and covered her mouth, tears already starting to pool in her eyes.

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed. "Oh, God. James! It's James!" She pulled him into a tight embrace and I had to look away. I hated emotional stuff, but it also hurt to see the look of pure happiness on Iggy's face as he hugged her back. Nudge and Angel were clinging to each other, and Max looked sort of lost, just sitting on the couch next to Iggy and Mrs. Gr— his mom. Gazzy leaned his head onto my arm and I looked down at him. He was sniffling and his eyes were red. I scratched his back between his wings and he burried his face in my sleeve a little. I knew it was going to be hardest for him, Nudge, and Angel. They hadn't had the years to build up a tough outer shell like Max and I had.

Max cleared her throat and I looked up at her, our eyes meeting for a brief second. "So, well, you think this is James, the son you lost?"

Tom nodded. "That's my son," he said, his voice cracking towards the end. He looked at each of us then, as if for the first time realizing how young we were. "Wh-who are you?" he asked.

"We're —friends. We — were taken too. But you're the first parents we've found." I was surprised she told them that much, but judging by the look on her face, so was she. None of us were really in a straight thinking state of mind at the moment.

The Griffiths exchanged surprised and concerned looks.

"So, uh, what now?" Max asked and I was thankful, yet a little mad. I wanted to be away from all this lovey-dovey-happy-ness, but I knew that once we left, Iggy wouldn't be coming with us.

"James belongs with us," Mrs. G said in a firm, determined voice. "I thought I'd lost him forever. Now that we have him back, I'm never letting him go. Do you hear me?" I was getting a little pissed that she was treating Max like the bad guy. She hadn't taken Iggy. In fact, she had saved him and brought him _back._ But Max just raised her hands in a "calm down" kind of way. I had been expecting a very different hand gesture...

"No one's going to try to stop you," Max said in a calming voice. "I think he's James too. But you know he's blind."

"I don't care," Iggy's mom said, stroking his hair. "I don't care if there are a million problems. We can handle anything, if we have him back."

_Hm...does that "anything" include genetic enhancement and wings? _I thought and saw Angel smile a little.

"Iggy? Do you want to stay?" Max asked. The entire Flock looked at him, dreading and yet anticipating his reply. He blushed a little, but he was smiling and his eyes shone with more happiness than when we first escaped the school, even when we got Angel back from the School. _We're losing him..._

He nodded. "I guess this is where I belong."

That was the last straw for the kids. Tears ran silently down Nudge's face as she stood up and moved towards the doorway. Angel got up and walked straight into Gazzy's outstretched arms. I turned with them and we quietly made our way towards the doorway of the living room. Max, Iggy, and the Griffiths (I couldn't think of Iggy as one of them yet) followed us. The couple stepped aside so we could all say good-bye. And let me tell you, it was one of the worst moments of my life.

Angel and Nudge clung to him like he was their lifeline, and they refused to let go. It took both me and Max to pull them away, and they had to hang onto each other to keep from falling. Max gave him a big hug and whispered something to him, making him laugh. I thought I heard her say, "Don't blow them up," but I could have been imagining it.

Gazzy and I were standing off to the side, and as I saw Iggy saying good-bye to the girls, I realized something. The Gasman was now the second oldest guy. If I left, he'd be the man of the house (or more appropriately, nest. Har har.). Gazzy looked up with sad eyes when Iggy came over. He gave him a quick hug and I saw him slip something in Gazzy's back pocket. It looked suspiciously like a detonator, but I didn't say anything and just let it be their little secret.

And that left me.

"Fang," Max said, looking at me sternly. "Hug him, or I'll beat you."

"Yeah, Fnick," Iggy said, spreading his arms. "Hug."

I let a little bit of my smile slip onto my face and rolled my eyes. "I'm rolling my eyes, _James_," I said.

"Does that mean I get a hug?" he asked.

I sighed and hugged him. But it was a guy hug. Where you do a little handshake thing first, and then pat each others backs. Man Hugs: emotions optional.

"Take care of them," he said so only I could here.

"Will do," I said.

"And Fang?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let Max in the kitchen." I couldn't help it, I laughed. After a few seconds Angel joined in, whispering to Max what we'd said. She scowled and whacked us both on the back of the head. But she was smiling too.

And then, all too soon, it was time to go. We stepped out the door and Max hugged Iggy one last time, tears streaming down both their faces. But then we had to walk away, not able to shoot into the sky because his parents were still watching.

So we walked, a little piece of us staying, and a big rock taking it's place.

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**-sniffle- Iggy, if you ever leave me, I will beat you with a stick.**

**Iggy II: How? I'd be gone. -gets hit with stick- Ow! Okay, okay! I'll stay! Jeesh...  
**

**Me: -sniffle- Good. Okay, so that was sad to write. But I had no idea how Fang would feel so I just put how I felt when Leah (my Iggy) left me (her Fang) to live in Virginia (wow, that was a scarily similar anecdote...). Anywho, I tried to make him feel manly sad, but yet still show his soft side. And I liked the Gazzy parts. I feel so bad for the little guy. That'd be like Iggy II leaving Jammie Bears. It's just...unthinkable.  
**

**Iggy II: -eyeroll- So, now what?**

**Me: I post the excerpt from Fang! It should be up in like an hour or something. It's not that long, and it will be at the bottom of my profile.**

**So...**

**Review. (Notice how this time I made it a command instead of a question)  
**


	72. God, I Love Chases

**Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, I've been really busy with a project for English. Which, in case you're wondering, includes physic llamas, a unicorn named Chuck Norris, and the line "That's _Mr._ Deformed Rabbit to you."**

**So yes, you could say things have been interesting.**

**Though, my favorite moment from this week was in Spanish when the substitute was standing in front of my group's table, and this guy named Travis stood up behind him. _And started dancing._ He was seriously thrusting and grinding only half a foot from the _guy _sub, who was completely oblivious to why everyone was giggling.**

**Iggy II: And before she starts the chapter, I feel I must deliver some bad news. The Leah that moved is the Leah M., who Lissa is based off of. Not crazy Leah who stalks British people and has dreams about rubber duckies with mustaches. So sorry Conman, you're still on her list.  
**

**Me: A rubber ducky?**

**Iggy II: -eye roll- You really need to check your voice mail more often.**

**Disclaimer (for this chapter and last): I don't own Max****imum Ride yada yada, Iggy II is still mine blah blah blah, something about Santa...

* * *

**

**Fang POV (83-93 this is going to be really long...)**

So, Anne's pissed. I don't think there's really a way to sugar coat it. When we came home and Iggy wasn't with us, she went insane. All weekend she made phone calls to local restaurants and hotels, asking if Iggy had showed up at any of them. No one had seen him though. So then she started bugging us, asking a million questions and threatening us and saying that we were being terrible friends to him because we'd just abandoned him.

And that last part, that's was pissed _me _off. The kids and Max had been moping around in a sort of zombie like state all weekend, and Anne had the nerve to say that? That we'd left him, abandoned him? I nearly took her head off.

"Fang, calm down" Max had said to me Saturday night at dinner. Anne was badgering Gazzy for information, but he was just looking sadly down at his plate, poking his fork around his untouched meal. "She doesn't know. She's just worried." There was an implied "all of us are" in her tone. And we really were. Whenever someone in the Flock was gone, it was never for a good reason. First with Jeb disappearing (back when we trusted him and considered him one of us), then with Angel getting kidnapped, and finally when Max got shot and was AWOL for a few days. So it was strange to think that any of us could be safe when we weren't together.

But Iggy had made his choice. No, that sounds too harsh. Iggy had gone home. Yeah, that's better. That's what we all would have done. Well, maybe not me and Max. First of all, we had no information on Max's parents, and I didn't care much about finding mine.

But enough of this depressing emotional crap that makes me remember that I have a heart (shudder).

Monday morning came all too slowly. I know that's a weird thing to say, considering we had school and all, but at least it would give us a distraction. And it was easier to act normal around people who didn't know you so well. And I think the kids needed a good distraction right now. Angel and Nudge had been crying pretty much all weekend. And Gazzy was just on autopilot. Max hadn't been acting much different, but I could tell she was pretty close to her breaking point.

"I'm going to report Jeff missing at school," Anne announced Monday morning as we were getting into the car. We all remained silent, just like we had every other time she'd tried to provoke us.

"Okay," Max said simply, looking out the window with a bored expression, but I could see the pain in her eyes.

"I'm going to call the police," Anne said after a few moments of silence. Nudge's hands were clenched into fists and Gazzy was glaring into the mirror that Anne was watching us through.

"Whatever," Max said back, giving the two a look that clearly said 'settle down'. "Why don't you put his face on a milk carton?" she suggested like she was talking about what to wear today. "He's just another one of those missing kids, isn't he? This place is full of them."

I saw Anne's profile pale dramatically and she got a dear-in-the-headlights look before clearing her expression. After that she was perfectly quiet, barely even looking at us when we got out of the van at school. Huh, I guess that shut her up.

We all walked into the school and I was honestly surprised by it's normal-ness. None of them knew Iggy — I mean _Jeff_ (or would it be James? Damn, that kid needs to pick a name and stick with it) was missing. They would probably assume he was sick or something. But it felt weird to be around a group of people who shared your feelings about something, and them be submerged in a sea of obliviousness.

Ah, to be human.

"Everyone to the auditorium!" someone was shouting as we entered the main part of the school. "Monday-morning assembly starts in five minutes! If even _one_ of you little buggars is late I will be sure to deal with you all personally!" The person shouting came into view and I saw the headmaster's plump red face glaring around at the surrounding crowd. The kids slowly piled through the big double doors that lead to the gym, and me and the Flock had no choice but to follow.

"Sit down you twerps!" the headhunter said as he closed the doors, which made a large boom that echoed through the gym. Everyone fell silent and me and the Flock picked spots towards the back of the room. There weren't enough chairs for everyone, so we had to sit on the floor. A bit of a problem for some of the girl, what with the whole skirt situation. Heh, Iggy once —

Angel whimpered a little and I cursed under my breath. There I go, bringing up Iggy again. And Angel had to hear all of our thoughts, so it was four times worse for her then the rest of us.

"Sorry," I whispered, and she nodded, leaning her head against Nudge's shoulder. Max peered over both their heads at me and gave a questioning look. I shook my head and looked back to the front of the room, indicating that I didn't want to talk about it.

And so we sat there, not really listening as the headhunter rambled on and on about this and that. I did catch a few words though. There was something about a teacher nearly breaking their leg when he slipped in a ketchup spill in the lunch room, how someone had stolen an electric pencil sharpener and a computer mouse, and how someone had stuck wet paper towels to the bathroom wall in the shape of ... er ... man parts. **(A/N: OMG. I did that once. Best dare I ever accepted...)** Though I suspected at least one of the Flock for the first two, I don't think any of us would steep as low as to draw _things_ on the walls. But the use of the material _was _quite creative...

"I have one more announcement," Pruitt shouted over the laughter that the bathroom art announcement had caused. He glared at everyone (of course adding a sneer when looking at the Flock) and we eventually became silent.

"One of our students has gone missing," he said, not sounding the least bit caring. "Jeff Walker," he said, glaring right at Max. "From ninth grade. Though he was a new student, I'm sure you all know whom I'm talking about. We're calling in a special detective unit. But if any of you have seen him, or know anything, or have any information whatsoever, come forward now. If we later find out that you _did_ know something and did _not _come forward, it will be very bad for you. Am I making myself clear?"

Que a round of very confused and slightly fearful nodding from the unsuspecting student body.

Everyone started to sneak what were _supposed_ to be sly glances, but were more like out right gawks. I guess we didn't really look like our brother had gone missing. I saw Max let her mouth drop into a frown and Nudge did the same, though neither seemed exactly forced. I sighed a little and leaned back on my palms, trying to ignore the many strange looks we were getting and just waiting to be excused.

"Dismissed," the headhunter spat before leaving the stage in a big jiggly rush. (Not a pretty metal picture, is it?)

We all got up and I grabbed Gazzy and Angel before they could be swept up in the waves of students. Max jumped up and went straight to the doors, not caring who she knocked out of the way. I tried to get to Nudge but she was already surrounded by her friends who were patting her back and comforting her.

Looking down at the two blonds I noticed that they were clinging to my legs like I was a life line or something. Angel looked up at me with big blue eyes and I felt my normally hard expression melt away.

"Can you walk me —," she glanced at Gazzy and quickly corrected herself, "_us_, to class?"

I nodded and took both their hands, leading them through the group of kids that had yet to make it out the doors. As soon as people realized who was pushing past them they started asking questions.

"What happened?"

"Do you know where he is?"

"Are you okay?"

Are we okay? Hell no we're not okay! I wanted to shout at them to leave us the hell alone, but I knew that would look bad and decided to just glare at anyone who got too close.

When we got into the hallway I saw there was a second group of kids at the end of the hall. Over their heads I could see Max standing in the middle, her friend (J.J. or something) standing next to her. Max had tears running down her face, and they weren't fake tears either. I watched in shock as she covered her mouth and closed her eyes, the girl next to her waving her waving her arms and shooing everyone away.

"What's going on?" Gazzy asked, trying to see around the horde of people. "Is Max okay?"

I was about to drag them both forward so we could have that question answered, but a large shape stepped in front of us and cut off our view of Max.

"Go to class, kids," a big guy said. I looked up into his beefy face and was surprised at how tall he was. I'm nearly six foot, so any one who makes me look short is pretty damn big. He wasn't ripped or anything, but he could probably put up a good fight. Only question was, what was a guy like _that,_ doing _here._

"Who are you?" Gazzy asked in that fearless way I know he picked up from Max.

The guy smiled but it looked more like a sneer. "I'm substituting for Mrs. Calihan."

"She was fine the other day," Angel said, peeking out from behind me. "I had her music class on Friday."

The guy kept a calm face, but I saw his jaw muscles twitch and pushed the kids a bit farther behind me. "There was ... a family emergency. A death, I believe. It's never easy losing family."

_Yeah, I've noticed._ "Well," I said, taking a side step around him, keeping the kids behind me and also keeping his gaze, "our sister needs us...."

"Really?" he said, getting back in our way with one quick movement. I suppressed a growl and tried to look casual, though there were only a few other kids in hall to witness the current scene. "She seemed fine when I saw her. In fact, she's already headed off to class." He moved to the side for a second so we could see the empty hall behind him. "I suggest you do the same."

I glared at the guy, glanced back to where Max had been, and then started backing away. "Let's go," I said to the kids, finally moving around a corner at the other end of the hall.

We walked in silence for a bit, Angel sniffling now and then. But by the time we reached Gazzy's class, we all had our game faces on. But just to be sure I raised at an eyebrow at Gazzy, silently asking if he was okay.

He nodded and straightened his shoulders, putting on a brave face and reaching for the doorknob.

"Oh, Zephyr, there you are..." his teachers voice faded away as the door swung closed behind him. I started walking with Angel down another hallway, but stopped when I heard a faint buzzing sound, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.

"Did you hear that too?" Angel whispered, looking behind us as I pretended to examine a poster on the wall. I was really listening for the noise again.

I nodded. "It was like a radio."

"Or a walkie-talkie ." I looked at her with raised eyebrows and she shrugged. "Gazzy used to have one, remember? You could here the static through the walls, it was so loud."

I thought about it, though it seemed unlikely. Why would someone have anything more then a cell phone at a school? Then again, this was my life. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw someone walking around with a telegraph.

"Let's go," I said, after a minute of not hearing anything else. We went down a side hallway and came to a door covered in brightly colored pictures and a plaque that said "Mrs. Shilling: Best Teacher Ever" on it. Wow, I hoped the teacher wasn't as perky as her door. That could be suicide inducing.

"Thanks, Fang," she said, hugging me around the waist and then walking into the room. She waved over her shoulder at me and I gave her a small smile back.

And then there was one.

I sighed and started heading back in the direction of Mrs. K's room, taking my time as I went. I was already late, I might as well work it. **(Oh God, that sounded gay.)**

I got to the hall that my room was in and saw a familiar redhead pacing back and forth in the hall.

"Nick!" Lissa said when she saw me, relief obvious in her voice. She rushed forward and hugged me, making me stiffen and stand there awkwardly. "I was so worried," she said, pulling away, but weaving her hand into mine.

"Why?" I asked.

She gestured at the door behind her. "You weren't in class," she said. "I thought maybe the assembly had gotten to you. I saw some of Krystal's friends taking her to the bathrooms, and Max looked really upset —"

"You saw Max?" I cut in.

"Yeah, she was with Jennifer. Why?"

I shrugged, moving around her. "Just wondering. Do you remember what way she went?"

"Nick." She grabbed my hand while I was still in her reach. "You should come back to class." She started tugging me in the direction of the room but I yanked my hand back.

"No." It came out a bit harsher then I meant it and I saw her cringe. Ah, crap. I did not need this right now... "Look," I said. "She's upset, and I need to help her."

She smiled, taking my hand again. "Relax," she said. "Sam already went off looking for her."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "What?"

She looked back at me, her green eyes looking genuinely confused by my reaction. "Yeah, he asked me if I'd seen you, and I said no. Then he asked if I'd seen the others and I told him Max had headed that way." She pointed towards the back of the school where the office and teacher's lounge was. "He said he'd go talk to her."

I felt a growl growing in my throat, but I held it back. Sam was Max's ... _boyfriend._ She'd probably want him to be there, not me.

"Okay," I said reluctantly, not looking at Lissa as we walked the short distance to our class.

When we walked in Lissa smiled at Mrs. Kesler and said, "I found him. He was just walking his younger brother and sister to class."

"How nice of you," Mrs. K said, smiling. Then she looked sympathetic. "And I'm truely sorry about your brother. I'm sure they'll find him."

I nodded stiffly and took my seat next to Ana. The seat on my right, where Sam sat, was empty. I clutched my pencil so hard that it snapped, causing Ana to look at me. "Hulk smash, much?" she said.

I shook my head. "Stress," I replied. Which technically wasn't a lie.

She watched me for a moment longer, but then turned her attention back to the front of the class. After a second I realized something. What had Lissa said a minute ago? "He was walking his siblings to class" or something. I hadn't told her that. So how had she know?

I glanced at her and saw her watching me. She smiled and waved. But was it just me, or did she look different? Her hair a bit longer maybe? And her chin and nose looked more pointed then usual.

Before I had time to look into theory, my thoughts were shattered by a sudden stream of shouts from the hall.

"Bandada! Bezheet! See-chass! Move, move, move!"

Max.

I jumped out of my seat and nearly knocked poor Mrs. K over as I pushed past her and out the door. I heard Ana calling after me and thought I saw Lissa coming towards the door as I ran into the hall. I looked around, seeing both Max and Nudge running towards my end of the hall. I made sure they had seen me and then started booking it towards the exit. When I got there I flung the door open, half expecting an alarm to go off. But none came, so I stood there, waiting anxiously for the others to catch up.

"Max! In here!" I heard Sam shout. I whipped my head from where I had just seen Angel and saw Sam standing in front of an empty classroom. He was gesturing to the open doorway. "Come on! Through here!"

And she hesitated.

I swore loudly, but kept myself where I was, holding the door as the kids ran this way. Max was still running, but her eyes were locked on Sam, and she wasn't going as fast as before. "You can trust me!" he shouted, stepping into her path.

_Come on _Max_,_ I pleaded silently. _I realized my mistake, see yours._

As if by some miracle (or Angel) she seemed to hear me, and plowed right through him. Well, not _through_ him. But she ran into him, knocking easily off his feet and onto his ass.

She paused a second, saying something I couldn't hear as a million emotions ran across her face.

"Max!" I couldn't keep myself from yelling. She snapped out of it and met my eyes. With a tight nod she caught up to the kids and we all ran through the double doors together. Kids were spilling out of classrooms and filling the hall. Whoever had been chasing Max would have to get through the crowd to get to us.

"Up and away!" Max shouted as a car's engine started up somewhere in the chaos. We took to the air in time to see a fancy car barreling towards where we had been seconds before.

And where Max was still standing.

I looked back to the car to see that it was the headhunter at the wheel. He was going full speed at Max, who was ... running ... right ... towards him.

Dear Lord.

I shouted her name, but she didn't hear me. She jumped into the air right before the car hit, her wings flinging out on either side of her. She kicked out and her foot connected solidly with the windshield, the glass shattering instantly. Max was already thirty feet in the air by the time Pruitt lost control and smashed into a bunch of parked cars. But a few pieces of glass flew past her feet, almost hitting her.

"Cool!" Gazzy said, grinning wildly. I sent Max a that-was-the-stupidest-thing-I've-ever-seen-you-_idiot_ look. Which she happily ignored.

"This isn't the end of this!" Pruitt yelled after he'd dragged himself out of his wrecked car. "You're accidents, stains, mistakes! And we'll get you!"

Max rolled her eyes and called a sarcastic, "If I had a nickel for every time I've heard _that_," before turning back to us. We were already a hundred feet in the air and going higher with every beat of our wings, but I could still hear the distinct screech of a certain gray van driving full speed into the parking lot. Great. Just freaking _fabulous._ We already an evil headmaster on our hands, why not add a bunch of flying mutant dog boys?

And that, dear children, is sarcasm at it's fullest.

"Go!" Max shouted, noticing the van below. We all rocketed upward, catching small glimpses of Erasers running around everywhere and Ari trying (and failing epically, I might add) to get everything under control.

But me and my Flock just flew away, fading into the barely risen sun...

Now, that's how the heros in some old western movie would end their day, but you have to remember that it was only ... 8 ... 8:30 in the morning. There was no director waiting by to shout, "Cut!". No make up artist to take our wings off and hang them in the prop closet. Nope, we kept flying and keep living.

Easier said then done.

After a few minutes we stopped fleeing and settled for making a game plan.

"Where to now?" Gazzy asked, hovering in the air next to Angel. I was doing constant 360s, but I hadn't seen anything so far.

"We need to go back to Anne's," Angel said in a surprisingly firm voice for a six-year old.

"Yeah, just real quick, to get some stuff," Nudge added.

"Actually," Max said, a smug smile pulling her lips up, "I hid our packs in the bat cave a few days ago. Just in case something like this happened. And I didn't forget to lift one of these." Max took a credit card out of her pocket and waved it around like a magic wand. Which, if you think about it, it sort of was.

"Great," Gazzy said, breathing a sigh of relief. "That was really smart, Max."

"That's why they pay me the big bucks." She clamped her mouth shut before she could say anything more. It was amazing how she was able to hold back the inevitable stream of "I told you so"s and mid-air cabbage patching.

"We still have to go back to Anne's," Angel insisted.

"Ange, we just can't take the risk of saying good-bye," Max said.

"No," she said, looking very serious. "_Total's there._"

_Damn dog, _I thought, looking at Max and meeting her eyes. We both knew that there was a zero percent chance of Angel leaving Total. So after a synchronized sigh, Max looked at Angel and said, "We'll try."

"Oh, _thanks_, Max," she gushed. "We'll make it fast, I promise."

After three short minutes, Anne's house came into view. Even from the other end of the orchards we could see that there were dozens of Erasers running around the property. They were searching the barn, going in and out of the house, and even weaving through the trees of Anne's orchard.

Angel was scanning the ground with the eyes of, well, a hawk. Her eyes zeroed in on an area near the pond and I followed her gaze. "There!" she shouted, pointing, but I'd already seen him. Total was running around the edge of the water, an Eraser going after him. But the dog was fast (Total, not the Eraser) and he was keeping a good distance between them.

Out of no where Angel streaked past me, her wings pulled all the way in and her body angled towards the ground.

"Fang!" Max shouted. Within the next second I was rocketing after Angel, my wings working hard to catch me up. I faintly registered the sound of a van pulling into the driveway as I finally reached her. The Eraser chasing Total had stopped running and was shouting for backup. Others started running towards the pond, getting ready to attack when we landed. I got into a battle stance (well, as much as I could while almost upside down in the air), ready to attack if any got too close.

"Total!" Angel called. "Come!"

The little black dog started racing towards us, gaining speed quickly. When he had enough speed he jumped, sailing the whole 30 feet between us and the ground with ease. Angel grabbed him at the peek of his jump and started climbing back into the air, her white wings pumping extra hard to pull her out of her dive.

The Erasers started yelling and running around, trying to figure out what to do. As we reached the Flock I took Total, who thought it'd be nice to lick my face all the way from chin to temple. I pushed him away, trying to wipe the slobber off my face without dropping him.

"About time you got here," Total grumbled as he squirmed in my arms. "I thought I was going to have to bit some ankles!"

Max ignored him and looked around at us, her expression showing she was in full Leader Mode. "Okay guys," she said, "it's time to get the flock out of here." _Oh no, please. Not the puns..._

"Wait —," Nudge said, looking down at Anne's yard.

"No," Max said firmly, "we have to _go_. Ari and the rest will be after us any second. Let's get a head start."

"There's Anne," Nudge said, completely ignoring Max.

I looked down and sure enough, there was Anne. She had just burst through the front door of the house and stomping over to Ari. She started shouting and gesturing around her, a look of pure rage on her face.

As I watched, a black sedan pulled up next to them. The driver's side door opened, and out stepped the last person I wanted to see right now.

Zac Efron? No.

Satan? Getting closer...

Dr. Phil? Keep the mustache and add some hair...

Jeb? Bingo.

Jeb walked up to Ari, who was now yelling right back at Anne. Was she mental or something? I new she didn't know who these guys were, but that didn't mean she couldn't put the claws and fangs together and get that yelling at them was a really stupid idea. But there she was, shouting right in his face and stabbing a nail into his big furry chest. Ari roared loudly and grabbed her hand, twisting it at an unnatural angle. Jeb hit his hand away and Anne took a few steps back, her face red with anger.

Jeb pushed Ari back roughly. He growled back and eyed Anne with angry red irises. I glanced up to see Max biting her lip, probably contemplating going down there and kicking Jeb's butt. I sure wouldn't mind seeing him get the snot beat out of him. But she shook her head and looked around at each of us. "Look, we have to go," she said at the same time a voice said, "Yo."

We all jumped and I whipped around to see a grinning figure hovering behind us.

"Oh, my God! Iggy!"

"Iggy! Iggy!" The girls all rushed him at once, nearly knocking him right out of the sky. Max managed to hug him quickly and them moved aside as Nudge did a sort of arm's length air kiss. Gazzy flew up beside him and punched him on the arm, grinning widely.

"What? Human life not doing it for ya?" he asked, slapping Iggy a high five. Iggy's expression darkened for a second, but his normal wry smile came back as Angel wrapped her arms around his neck and clung onto his back. "Iggy!" she squealed happily, making him laugh and give her a sort of backwards hug.

"Welcome back," I said, giving him a high five.

"Good to be back," he said. Then he gave us all a bit of a questioning look. "I went by the school," he said. "They seem to be having a bad day."

Max laughed without humor. "Yeah, you could say that."

He cocked his head to the side, smiling wryly. "Do I hear a ruckus below?" he asked, not sounding the least bit surprised.

"You do indeed." There was a moment of silence as we all realized that he was actually _here._ Which would have been great, if he weren't supposed to be with his parents. So we all instantly assumed the worst. "Oh no," Max said, "Iggy. What happened?"

"Well," he said, his smile fading a bit, "they didn't mind the wings. In fact, they loved the wings. Especially since they got eight different publishers and magazines into a bidding war for the all-exclusive rights to my life story, complete with photographs and interviews with the freak himself." By the end of his explanation, his happy expression was completely gone and his voice was unbelievably bitter.

"Oh, no," Max said, flying closer to him so that their wings brushed on the down strokes. "They were going to tell people?"

"They were going to turn me into a side show freak," Iggy said, grimacing. "I mean, a really public one."

Gazzy's originally smug expression at Iggy's return, had turned guilty and then angry. _Really _angry. I was pretty pissed myself, but I was going to hold that back and let Max and girls make him feel better. _Later_ Ig, Gaz, and I would sit down and bash his asshole parents.

"I'm so sorry, Ig," Max said, reaching her hand out to pat his shoulder. "I thought they were the real thing."

"That's just it," he said, his face showing his confusion and frustration. "Maybe they were. I don't know. Maybe they weren't. But they _felt _like the real thing, and the real thing wanted to make money off me."

Max reached out again and took his hand, giving him a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry, Ig, really," she said again. "But I'm so happy you're back."

He gave her a small smile. "I'm glad to be back too. Even before they went nuts on me, I just missed you guys too much."

This is great, and we'll have a group hug later," I said in that 'to the point' kind of way I knew they all love, "but can we pay attention to what's happening below?" I glanced down at where Anne, Jeb, and Ari were still arguing.

"Hmm," Max said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Something's missing down below. Some important puzzle piece. Oh, I know: It's me. Hang on, guys."

Before I could stop her, she'd already shot towards the ground and was far out of earshot. "Idiot," I muttered, rubbing my forehead and contemplating going after her. She landed easily in the yard, her wings only coming out at the last second, and strode confidently towards the trio. Erasers were closing rank all around her, but she seemed totally at ease. This was another one of those time when I wondered if she was cocky or stupid. Before I'd of thought cocky, but now? Stupid. Really, _really_ stupid.

She reached them and said some stuff, sneering pointedly at Ari. he lunged for her, but Jeb held him back. Anne said something, looking worried and mom-like. Max looked as fooled by the act as I was (which was not at all) and said a most likely sarcastic comment back. As they spoke Anne turned on Jeb and said something with a deadly look on her face. He rounded on her and started shouting back. Ari and Max looked completely lost, and for a second they look almost .... No, Jeb had been lying when he said Ari was her brother. They just both looked confused, with nothing more in common.

Ari interrupted my inner monologue by lunging at Max again. This time both Anne and Jeb had to hold him back.

"What are they saying?" Nudge asked, starting to panic.

"Something about a lead dog," Iggy said concentrating. He looked in Angel's general direction. "Are you getting anything?"

She shook her head. "I can't get squat from Jeb, Anne's thoughts are jumbled like usual, and Max is ... confused. There's too much going on in her head for me to get anything."

We all looked back to the ground in time to see Max shake her wings out, still keeping them slightly closed. With a last glare at Anne she jumped into the air.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm wrong," Iggy said, "but I think she said 'you can't even make decent cookies'."

I looked at him like he was crazy, though knowing Max and her unhealthy obsession with cookies, they weren't really unusual last words.

Max was beside us in seconds, a look of disgust on her face at she glared at the three specks on the front lawn. "_Vá__monos_," Max said. "There's no one here but people to leave."

But, again, nothing can ever go smoothly for us. So within seconds Erasers were jumping into the air, moving a lot quicker and easier then they had the last time we'd dealt with them. Max noticed this too. "Uh-oh — this is a new batch, guys," she called over the roar of the wind. "These Erasers can actually fly. Move it!"

"Through the woods!" I called, gesturing towards a the trees a hundred yards away.

"Rendezvous at the bat cave," Max added as we angled towards the tree line. "Make sure you aren't followed!"

We all slipped easily into the forests, moving cautiously around trees and avoiding branches. I had to fly at an angle to keep from clipping my wings against the rough bark of the trees. We'd practiced this a ton of times over the two months we'd been with Anne, so it was easy to look past the danger factor of it and get caught up in the thrill that came with it. We zoomed around trunks, keeping low to the ground so we weren't seen from above, out wings barely moving as we skimmed over roots and swung around bushes. I heard Iggy give a loud whoop of excitement as the first yells started up behind us. I could hear Erasers crashing and cursing as they tried to maneuver their over sized wings through the small gaps between trees. I looked back and saw one hit both his wings on trees and flipped head over heels, landing head first in a bush.

God, I love chases.

"No one touches Max!" I heard Ari shout. "She's mine!" Max and I exchanged a look, both thinking about what a creeper he was.

"Split up!" Max called, looking back at the remaining Erasers. The Flock split into three groups, then a couple hundred yard later we separated again, the only ones staying together being Iggy and Gazzy.

"Whoa!" Total yelped as we narrowly avoided a low hanging branch. When I ducked, the front of my jacket scraped the ground, almost throwing me off balance. I zipped him up so my hands could be free, but it made moves like the last one even more dangerous.

"Shhh." I was trying to listen to our surroundings, waiting to hear the familiar flap of wings in the distance.

_There._ I looked to my left where the flash of white had been. It wasn't an Eraser though, I knew that as soon as I saw the small size and the grace of the figure.

Angel.

"Fang!" she called, seeing me too. She flew over a bunch of ferns and sped along next to me. "Give me Total."

"Are you crazy?" I asked. "We'll crash."

"Just unzip him, he'll jump." I gave her a doubtful look, but did as she said. It was going to be hard for her to fly with the extra weight, but as long as I was able to hold back attackers, she'd be fine.

She flew above me just long enough for Total to jump out of my arms and into hers. Then with a surprising burst of speed she rocketed into the distance.

"Four at five!" she called before she was gone completely gone. I looked behind me and to the right, immediately zeroing in on the four shapes she was talking about.

"Yo, mutts!" I shouted, making sure it was me they went after. I saw one turn towards me, an evil grin splitting his face. He veered to the left and the others followed suit. _Great, their following me. Now what?_

I spotted a clearing up ahead and headed towards it, zig-zagging as I went. I heard a few yelps and shouts, but I didn't look back as I reached the opening in the dense greenery. I shot into a steep climb, entering the open air within seconds. A quick look around revealed that I was about ten miles from Anne's, the cliff with the bat cave barely visible in the other direction. I didn't have much time to think out an escape route though, because within moments four dark shadows shot out of the trees and went straight towards me.

I got into a fighting stance, watching them come closer.

_Let's do this.

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_

**Alright, I'm stopping it there. I think the chapter's long enough already. But fear not, a totally bad ass fight scene will be with you shortly. I'm just gonna post chapter two of FANG on my profile, and then I'll be back to typing.**

**Iggy II: and then she will force me to go with her to the devil's lair. **

**Me: I thought Leah B. was the devil.**

**Iggy II: Perry's close enough.**

**Me: Whatever. I'm going, so you're going. Period. So, hope y'all liked the chapter. I'm staying at Perry's new house tonight, so I'll try and post before I leave. Wish me luck that her horses don't eat me!**

**Reviews are like raindrops. They both begin with 'R' :)**

**P.S. When I typed 'walkietalkie', my auto correct gave me the options: walkies, sleepwalking, and _deerstalking._ No idea what the last one was about...  
**


	73. Florida

**Anatidaephobia: The fear that you are being watched by a duck.**

**-giggle-**

**Disclaimer: I hate these things. They just remind me of all the things I _don't _have. Including Maximum Ride.

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**

**Fang POV (94 & 95)**

The four hulking shapes came at me way faster then they should have been able to. Their wings were moving easily through the air, though anything would have been an improvement on how they used to fly. Unfortunately, the difference was more noticeable then I would've liked it to be.

The first one reached me within five seconds of breaking out of the tree tops. But it was time enough for me to get ready. He threw a punch at my head and I ducked easily, grabbing his arm as I bobbed back up. He was the smallest of the group, so it wasn't hard to twist his arm behind his back. I pushed down on his shoulder with my left hand and used the other to pull his arm up and out. There was a loud pop and he yelped in pain. But before I had time to knock him out I felt a strong blow to the back of my head.

I dropped a few feet, using the momentum to go into an ark. I rocketed into the middle of the group, grabbing one's wing and holding on with all my strength. I did a few flips and turns, the Eraser screaming in pain each time his wing got twisted. The other three chased after us, but I was too fast. I let go of the one's wing and watched as he tried to right himself. He made a grab for me, but I kicked his hand, hearing it crack. He instantly started plummeting to the ground, though I missed his impact because the three others had finally caught up to me.

I sent a round house kick to the Eraser on my left, pushing him backwards a couple of feet. I dodged a punch from my left and gave the one in front of me a hard upper cut to his chin. He staggered backwards and I kicked the third in the stomach. I kept the pattern going for what felt like an hour, but was probably just a minute or two. As all three of them lunged for me I tucked my wings in and left myself drop. They ran into each other but none of them fell. Damn.

I opened my wings before I reached the treetops and sped off in the opposite direction of the bat cave, trying to get them as far away from there as possible.

"You might as well give up!" the smaller one who's arm I'd messed up shouted from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see them gaining, most of their injuries being minimal.

I looked down, trying to find a place to enter the forests and lose them again. No such luck. Though, I could have sworn I saw a flash of white and brown through a few of the leaves. I assumed it was just an animal or something, but stopped anyway. I rounded on the three Erasers, waiting for them to make the first move.

"You've got no where to run," one with big brown wings snarled, moving to the left so that they formed a circle around me. He grinned and I waited for him to pounce, but instead felt a boot connect with my lower back. I jolted forward, running right into the fist of the still grinning Eraser. I pulled back and turned in a full circle, kicking the small one in the side of the head. The third one, that had dark burgundy wings, came at me and I dropped a few feet, punching him in the stomach when he flew above me.

I heard a furious roar from somewhere in the distance, making me do an instant 360. I saw the flash of white and brown again, but this time I recognized it as a familiar pair of wings, weaving stealthily through the branches.

"Max!" I called.

"Give it up Romeo," one of the Erasers growled. "She's Ari's play thing now."

I growled right back, furious at what he was implying, and punched him square in the jaw. He sailed backwards through the air.

And right into Max.

She chopped down on his neck, but I didn't have time to watch much further, because the other two used my pause to jump me. I kicked the smaller one in the knee, making him cry out again. A well placed punch to the other and he was out like a light. Which surprised me, it took quite a bit to really knock out an Eraser. But I couldn't take too much time to be proud, because I had one last problem to take of.

Max had already taken out her Eraser, and I was just left with the little one that had somehow made it this far. His arm was hanging limply by his side and his wings were moving clumsily.

"Where's everyone else?" Max called to me.

"Gone," I said, not taking my eyes off the Eraser, "Total too. This is all that's left."

I pushed my wings down hard, sending me over the Eraser's head, and then came down hard behind him. My feet landed on the arch of his left wing and it instantly crumpled, making a horrible cracking sound that I hoped I'd never have to experience for myself. His wings folded and he started falling, his red eyes burning with anger and panic as he flailed his arms about and tried to regain his balance. But just as his wings started to open, he hit the trees. His screams echoed through the woods, and a crow in a nearby tree flew off, it's screeches sounding eerie with the echo of the Eraser's. There was a soft thud, and then silence.

"That had to hurt," I said, thinking aloud more to myself then Max.

"Should we go —," Max began, but suddenly I was hit by a cement truck. Well, it wasn't _really_ a cement truck, but it felt pretty damn close. I straightened back up and glared at the big ball of mutated fur in front of me.

Ari.

"We end this now!" he growled at Max, but I got between them and met his beady eyed gaze with a glare of my own.

"I agree," I said in a deadly tone, images of the last few times we'd fought flashing through my head. I wasn't usually one for revenge, but I wasn't exactly thinking rationally at the moment. Anger just does that to ya.

I rushed forward and kicked him in the chest, the air leaving his lungs in a satisfying _oof._ I saw Max flitting around us nervously, looking like she was about to jump in at any second. But before she could come any closer I circled around behind Ari and chopped my hands down onto his neck. It didn't break (darn) but he did forget to flap, falling about ten feet. He looked up at me with narrowed eyes, then surged forward, his giant wings working extra hard to keep him aloft. It just reminded me of what a patch-work mess he was. And since we were in the air, I knew I had the advantage.

He came at me and I had a sudden flash back to the fight on the beach. A new wave of anger and adrenaline burst through my veins, and I made a tight circle around him, taking him by surprise. I swung my feet out in front of me and they connected solidly with his skull. He was pushed sideways, his wings not moving for a second an his nose gushing blood.

I know it's probably not a good thing to say (even if it was _Ari_), but I was feeling really good right about then.

Ari roared and came at me again, eyes flashing and claws extended. I pulled back and down with quick precision, kicking him in the gut and easily throwing him backwards. He was big, _really _big. But I was mad, _really _mad. And I had more training, along with wings that weren't just glued on. We circled each other for a second and I saw him shoot a glance to Max, who was still hovering a few yards away. She met my eyes for a second, her gaze filled with worry, and I hoped she didn't try to get into the fight.

Ari growled, drawing my attention back. "Don't get used to it," he snarled, gesturing to Max. He smiled evilly. "Daddy and I've got plans for her." He said 'Daddy' with a sort of mocking tone, and just the thought of Jeb and Ari anywhere near Max set me over the edge. I put all my anger into pulling my fist back and bringing it forward with the force of a sledge hammer. He tried pulling away but I still caught him right above the ear, hearing a loud _crack._ I wasn't sure if it was my hand or his head, but at the moment I didn't care.

His head swung sideways and I swooped in with a quick side kick to his ribs. He grimaced and I knew I must have broken something.

I swung my fist again and caught him in the muzzle, one of his bared teeth cutting my hand. I ignored the sting and hit him from the right.

"You—" I growled, pulling back for another hit, my teeth bared and anger making the edges of my vision red.

"Quit—" Ari tried to escape but only managed to drop a few feet, with me going down only a second after him. I drilled him in the chest with a strong uppercut, letting my anger fuel me, not that I didn't have a huge amount of adrenaline rushing through me already.

"Attacking—" I drew back, locking my legs together, and beating my wings once with all my might. I shot forward, my feet ramming into Ari's stomach, the impact sending a jolt through my body. He started gasping for air, but I just looked at him with a cold glare as I drew back my arm one more time.

"Us!" I shouted the word and sent my strongest punch yet, hitting him right on the chin and snapping his head backwards. He flipped over once, cursing the whole time, and then started plummeting to the ground. He kept flipping over and over, his wings getting getting tangled around him. He hit the trees with a series of loud snaps, his shouts continuing until there was a dull thud.

Then, silence.

I just hovered there, breathing heavily and wiping a line of blood off the corner of my mouth. There was sweat covering my face which felt hot and flushed, like I was having one of those heat flashed.

"So—" Max said from behind me, I had nearly forgotten she was there, "working out some issues here, are we?"

I scowled at her, but didn't really mean it. I looked her over quickly, cataloging any injuries. She seemed fine though, so I was guessing Ari had bothered her too bad before he'd shown up. I looked over her shoulder to the bat cave in the distance.

"Let's go find the others," I said.

She looked at me for a second and I looked back, one eyebrow raised in question.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah ... you?"

"Yeah ..." she trailed off. We hovered there for a moment, looking around and making sure the Erasers were really out for the count. (Okay, I admit, I was just looking for Ari. I really didn't need that ass popping up like a bad penny every other day.)

"It's Monday," she said .?docid=15913642

"Hm?"

"It's Monday," she repeated, looking up at the sun. "And it's about ... noon?"

I thought about that for a second. Jeez, just two hours ago I was sitting in home room thinking my (now ex) girlfriend was an Eraser and mourning the loss of my brother. But now I was homeless, running for my life, we had Iggy back, and I had just kicked Ari's ass.

I love my life.

"We should go," I said, snapping both of us out of our thoughts. She nodded and we circled around, heading to the east of the cave, that we could change directions and throw off anyone who may be following. We kept a constant visual, Max searching the gaps in the trees and me watching the horizon. We flew about ten minutes, but still hadn't seen anything, so Max deemed it safe to head straight to the cave. We had barely even landed before we were surrounded by the Flock.

"Max!" Nudge shouted, getting to her first. Gazzy and Angel clung onto her next, while Nudge came over and squeezed me around the waist.

"Can't ... breath ..." I said, and she released her death grip, smiling up at me.

"Fang!" Angel said, running up to me. She and the Gasman took Nudge's place, though they were kind enough to leave my intestines unsquished.

"Oh, Fnick!" Iggy cried dramatically from where he and Max were standing. I glared at him, though it obviously had no effect.

"Are they gone?" Gazzy asked, pulling away from me. His hair was blown completely back so you could barely tell where his forehead ended and his hairline began.

"For now," Max said, then crossed her arms and smiled at me. "Fang kicked Ari's butt."

"Way to go!" Iggy said, coming over and holding up his fist and I bumped fists with him. It was all I could do to hold back the smug smile that was pulling at my lips.

"He has issues," I heard someone say, and turned to see Nudge nodding knowingly and Max laughing her head off. I glared at both of them, which only caused more laughter.

"Okay, guys," Max said after she'd stopped giggling. "New agenda. Forget looking for our parents. We've hit a dead end. And besides, I don't think I could bare to give one of you up again right now. How about moving on to saving the world?"

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Total said, sitting at Max's feet.

"But where to?" Nudge asked.

"I've been thinking about that," Max began a way that was usually followed by, _and I have no ideas._

"Florida," Angel said suddenly.

"What? Why?" Max asked, furrowing her brow.

"I just feel like Florida is where we should go," she said, shrugging casually. "Plus, you know, Disney World."

"Yes!" Gazzy exclaimed. "Disney World!"

"Swimming pools, sunshine — I am so there," Total said, trailing off wistfully.

Max looked at me, and I shrugged. We both knew we didn't have any other options. She thought about it for a second, all the kids leaning forward excitedly, waiting for her answer. I swear even Iggy looked hopeful.

She sighed. "Well, okay, then. Florida it is. Grab your packs." The kids started cheering and high-fiving each other. Max rolled her eyes and I helped her get all of our stuff together.

"Florida?" I asked, before we left the cave.

"Florida," she said, nodding. She jumped through the opening and I followed close behind.

Florida. I could live with that.

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**I woke up about an hour ago and realized I had fallen asleep at my computer. I don't have time to go through and edit, so if something seems off, just assume it's a typo.**

**And don't forget:**

**Review! :D  
**


	74. Not Never

**I am proud to say that today was the most random day of my life. I had an argument about the awesomeness of ninjas with my friend Macray, who happened to be dressed as Waldo from _Where's Waldo._ Leah offered me some of her butter sandwich, and me and Halle played Where's The Random Person In The Cafeteria (the name sort of explains the rules...). Then I found a boyfriend for Macray (he's not gay, I just wish he was) who is named Alfredo. And then my Spanish sub started calling Dakota "Mr. Ho".**

**And my favorite part: The school counselors asked my sister if she was on drugs and/or suicidal. They even gave her a brochure on AA. They kept saying, "We know, and we don't care." Only problem is, no one else _knows,_ not even my sister _knows._ But the look on her face was priceless when they said, "No matter what happens, you can't give up."**

**Iggy II: Yeah? Well ... I stayed here all day and listened to _Project Runway_ reruns. So ha.  
**

**Me: ...**

**Iggy II: You know what, scratch that. Forget I said anything.**

**Me: Believe me, I'm trying.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or Where's Waldo. They just happen to be very big (and random) parts of my life lately.

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**Fang POV (96 - 100)  
**

We were flying over a little, unnamed town when we first saw them. No, not Erasers. Hawks. They started out as small dots on the horizon, but as we flew closer, they started to take shape. Large wings stuck out of either side of their bodies, looking so natural that you couldn't think it strange that they didn't have arms. They flew in a loose formation, looking straight ahead, like they were ignoring those around them. But they would look around every once in a while and drift closer if they'd started to move out of their position. Nudge saw them immediately, their big brown wings almost the same color as hers.

"Wow," she breathed. "They're beautiful."

"Yeah," Angel said, watching them. She turned to Max and gave her a pleading look. "Can we fly with them?" she asked.

Max looked and me and I shrugged. It couldn't hurt. I mean, we'd flown with hawks before, ones even bigger than these. She nodded back at me and turned to the Flock. "Okay. But Ig, make sure you keep Total close. And Total, don't draw attention to yourself."

The little black dog nodded and we headed towards the flock. They scattered almost instantly, moving away with such synchronization that it looked like they were doing some complex trick. They didn't go far though, just sort of watched us warily. Eventually, a large bird came forward to fly beside Max. The others (there was about a dozen total) came to fly among us. We whirled and dipped, flying in loops and adjusting our feathers the tiniest bit to mimic their movements. We weren't nearly as graceful as they were, but we were learning. And I could tell the kids were really enjoying themselves.

"This is incredible," Gazzy said, doing a lap around us by barely moving his wings. Max smiled at him and he beamed back, laughing as Angel came over and tagged him. The two started chasing each other, some of the smaller hawks going after them, though they still stayed at a distance.

"Maybe we could just live with them," Nudge said, flying upside down for a few seconds.

"Yeah," Gazzy said, whizzing by with Angel on his heels. "'Cause you love eating raw squirrels and snakes and stuff."

Nudge made a disgusted face. "Eew. I forgot about that," she said, making us all laugh.

"Anyway, guys, we can't live with them," Max said, though she didn't sound happy saying it. "We need to get farther away."

"I want to go to Florida. You _said_," Total complained, momentarily forgetting his oath of silence. The hawks' heads swiveled around and looked at him with curious eyes. A couple flew closer, though with a few looks from Angel they peeled off in the other direction. Total didn't relax though. I swear, he didn't even breath for another five minutes.

But our fun came to an end soon. The forests below us slowly disappeared and were replaced by a bright green field surrounded by small foot hills. The hawks started making hoarse cries, telling us that this was the end of the road for them. Max nodded to Angel, and she veered to the right, heading south east. Gazzy followed, then Iggy, Total finally relaxing in his arms. Nudge went after them and me and Max went last. She turned slightly and waved to them, the largest crying back at her. She laughed, looking more relaxed then she had our entire time at Anne's. We circled back, flying parallel to each other, and eventually met up with the rest of the Flock,

"It's like synchronized swimming," Gazzy said, looking back at the retreating birds.

"No, it's like exhibition jets," Iggy said, always going for a technical approach. "Like the Air Force Thunderbirds. We need stuff so we can leave huge trails of colored smoke behind us."

"Oh, yeah!" Gazzy exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "Like, we could get sulfur and —"

"And this would help our whole 'lie low, disappear' act how?" Max asked, always the sensible one.

"Oh," Iggy said, "yeah."

Max sighed, not wanting to hurt their feelings. "Maybe someday," she said, and Iggy and the Gasman exchanged triumphant smiles. "In the meantime," Max said, smiling, "let's do a vertical stack!" The kids cheered and got into position. Angel was on the bottom, flying about twenty feet over the clouds. We were pretty high in the air, the clouds keeping us out of view from anyone below. Nudge flew above her, only about four or five feet away from Angel. Gazzy hovered above the two, all of their wings working in perfect synchronization.

"You're up, Ig," Gazzy said. Iggy flew over them, somehow knowing where to stop and how fast to move his wings. Max was above all of them, and I slipped between her and Iggy. I flew closer to Ig than Max; she tended to be a bit careless with her feet while flying. And I didn't feel like getting kicked in the head right now.

We flew like that, in a perfect stack of bid kids, making a single shadow on the fluffy white clouds below. Some one (I'm guessing Gazzy) stuck two fingers out so that our shadow had bunny ears. I rolled my eyes and I heard Nudge and Angel giggling below. We just went like that, feeling completely at ease.

But that couldn't last, now could it?

I saw a flash of tan feathers as Gazzy beat his wings extra hard, pushing up and into Iggy. Iggy flew backwards, making me back up and almost crash into Max (and her hazardously hanging feet). I assume Gazzy chuckled, but it was blocked out by Total's startled yelp as he was bump out of Iggy's arms. He didn't stay in the air like Wiley Coyote does, but started plummeting downward instantly. And the clouds didn't catch him like a light, fluffy pillow. Instead he dropped right through them, making a small, Total-shaped whole in the clouds. Angel had reached out to catch him, but he fell right past her fingertips.

"Total!" she cried, and I could hear Total barking, though it was getting fainter with every passing second.

"Oh, crap," I heard Max mutter. She shot past me, but before she hit the clouds she met my eyes and called to me. "If I'm not back in two minutes, do _not_ let Angel have another pet."

"Max! Get Total!" Angel shouted as Max rocketed through the clouds, her wings leaving a 'V' in the surface. I stared after her, not sure of what to do. _Don't let Angel have another pet_. Those could be her last words. She could die and the last thing we'd remember her for was her sarcasm.

I didn't know whether to bask in the irony or curse repeatedly.

I decided against both. I mean this was Max we were talking about. She wouldn't —

"Aaahh!" I heard her scream from past the clouds.

"Max!" I shouted, but there was no answer.

"You idiot!" Angel screamed, lunging at her brother with tears pouring down her face. She grasped the front of his shirt with both hands. "What were you thinking! Now Total _and_ Max could be hurt!"

Gazzy looked shocked and guilty. He was moving his wings at odd intervals, trying to keep him and Angel up without getting their wings tangled.

"Angel!" he shouted, trying to pull her off, but she kept clinging to him. "We're gonna be in trouble too if you don't let go!"

All their yelling was giving me a headache, so I flew over and pried Angel off of Gazzy. I let her bury her face in my chest as I held both of us in the air. Her small white wings were drooping behind her, looking grayer then they usually did.

"Are ... are they okay?" she asked between sobs.

"Shh," I said, avoiding the question. I didn't know the answer, and I didn't feel like lying. She'd just read my mind anyways.

"Wait," Iggy said after a minute that felt like an hour. "I hear something. It sounds like ... wings."

A second later Max was shooting back through the clouds. Her hair was wet from the water vapor, and her cheeks were flushed from flying so fast. As soon as she came into view Angel's wings straightened out and she shot towards her, the rest of us hovering nearby.

"You got him!" Angel shouted happily. "You saved him!"

Total squirmed in Max's arms, and she hesitantly opened them, letting him jump from her embrace to Angel's. Angel held him tight and started crying, his black fur becoming even more soaked. Max watched them warily, looking tired. I was guessing that using hyper drive or whatever took more of a toll on her than she was letting on. She rubbed the crook of her elbow, her fingers rubbing gently over the crease. Hm...

"Oh, Total!" Angel exclaimed, burying her face in the top of his furry head. "I was so scared!"

"_You _were scared!" Total shouted. "I thought I was gonna plotz!"

Angel's wings were moving extra fast, trying to support her and something two thirds her weight. I moved forward a bit and met her eyes. "Okay," I said, "I better take him." I held out my hands and she handed him reluctantly to me. Total curled into my arms and snuggled against me. He smelled like wet dog, and I could feel my shirt getting wet, but I didn't say anything.

"I need wings," he muttered. "I need my _own_ wings. Then things like that wouldn't happen." Max and I looked at each other, rolling our eyes. Yeah, Total not having wings is his problem. _Right._

"Well, this has been exciting and all, but I think we should get going," Max said, starting to drift back in the direction we were heading.

Angel sniffled a few times and nodded, never taking her eyes off the dog in my arms.

We continued flying, not trying any more tricks, and I saw that Gazzy was keeping a large distance fr from both me and Angel. Angel for obvious reasons, and me because I had Total.

"I bet my hair looks _great_," Max said sarcastically, flying beside me. I glanced at her and saw that her wet hair had dried and turned some what frizzy.

"You should do shampoo commercials," I said. She gave me a dry look and I smirked. She rolled her eyes and looked towards the east, where the sun was climbing lower and lower in the sky.

"It's getting late," she observed. I nodded and repositioned a sleeping Total in my arms. He grumbled but didn't wake up.

Looking at my watch, I saw that it was six at night, nearing seven. "It'll be dark soon," I said.

"Should we land?" she asked, looking the flock over. The younger kids were starting to lag behind a bit, and even I was getting a little sore from the five straight hours of flying.

"I'm okay," I lied. "The kids, however ..." I trailed off, not needing to finish.

"How're you guys holding up?" she called behind us. Nudge looked at us with a tired expression, while Iggy shrugged, trying not to wake up Angel, who was sleeping in his arms. Gazzy gave us a thumbs up, slowly turning it to a thumbs down. Max nodded and looked down below. We were flying over some town in what was either South Carolina or Georgia. There was a building in the distance with a large sign saying "General Coffee State Park Information Center".

"Hmmm... That was awfully good timing," Max said, looking suspiciously at the park below. "Coincidence?"

"It's only a coincidence if you're not paranoid," I said.

"Good thing I'm not paranoid then," Max said cheerfully, angling downwards. The rest of us followed, landing quietly in the middle of the forest that surrounded the park. "Okay," Max said as soon as we landed. "Iggy, you watch the kids and check our supplies. Fang, you come with me and help me find a cave or something. We should stay in something higher up than trees, at least for tonight."

I nodded and went over to the middle of the clearing we were in. As Max and I took off, Iggy and kids started moving deeper into the woods, but still close enough that they could see when we got back to the clearing.

"I think I saw some limestone when we were flying in," Max said, pointing to a large wall of gray in the distance.

"'Kay," I said, moving parallel to Max as we started towards the rock. We didn't say much as we searched the area, but I think it was mainly because we had a lot of thinking to do. Max with all of her leader-like thoughts, and me with my what-the-hell-is-going-on thoughts. I was itching to know what had happened back at Anne's, why Max had told us to leave without even glancing back at Anne. And then there was this whole Florida plan. Bot Max and Angel seemed to know something about it that the rest of us didn't.

"Hey!" Max called from a few yards away, snapping me out of my inner babble. "Over here!" I flew over to where she was and looked at the indent in the rock. It was about ten feet across, with a ledge that went seven feet back. I stepped into it and stood there under the low ceiling, checking things out.

"Not as good as a cave," I said, "but decent."

She nodded. "This will keep us out of the wind, and it probably won't rain. Look's pretty clear." She turned to leave but I grabbed her arm. This was probably the only chance I'd get to talk to her.

"You okay?" I asked. "What happened back there at Anne's."

It was like she was aging before my eyes. Her happy half smile turned to a frown, and her eyes grew sad as she remembered the scene. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "It was pretty much business as usual," she said, sounding extremely tired.

"What's in Florida?" I pushed. "Why does Angel want to go there."

"I don't know. Maybe just Disney World?" She opened her eyes and looked up at me, a questioning look on her face. "You think it's something else?"

I did, I just didn't know what. But Max had just said she didn't have any idea besides what Angel had suggested earlier. And I could trust Max's judgment.

Right?

I frowned, shaking my head to clear my thoughts. I was paranoid enough, I didn't need to stop trusting Max. I _couldn't _stop trusting her.

"I don't know what to think," I said. "I'm tired of having to think about it, you know?"

"I totally know," she agreed, rubbing her temples. I could only imagine how much of a headache she must have right now; today had been a long day. "Finding our parents, figuring out the whole whitecoat thing. Me saving the world, and so on. I'm tired of all of it."

I looked out over the trees, the last remnants of sunlight turning the sky a fiery red. I don't know if it was the location, Max being so open, or just the stress of the day pushing down on me, but whatever it was, I decided to just throw caution (and my reputation) to the wind and speak my mind. "I'm ready to forget all that stuff," I said. "Look what happened to Iggy. I don't even want to know at this point. I just want to quit running. I also miss having somewhere to make entries in the ol' blog. I really do." I sent her a small smile at the last part, and she rolled her eyes, smiling back.

"Let's think about it," she said, sounding serious again, "think about how we can do it. From Florida, we'd be in a good place to head out over the ocean, find some deserted island somewhere. We could do some research." The more she spoke, the more possible it seemed. Though deep down where the logical part of my brain was melting from my sudden naivety overload, I knew it couldn't happen. And judging by the sad smile on Max's face, she knew it too.

"Maybe," I said.

"Maybe," she echoed. After a few minutes of watching the sunset, she spoke again. "We should head back."

I nodded, my word usage for the day — no, the week — all used up. We jumped off the ledge and headed back to the clearing. The Flock would start worrying soon, not to mention it was pretty dark out. As we flew back to the clearing it was strange to realize how far away our conversation at the cave seemed now. It had been what, 10 minutes? And yet we were already worrying about the Flock, how much food we had left, whether the cave fit all of us, who would take first watch, etc.

It was probably for the best though. I mean, Max was supposed to _save the world_. We couldn't just run off to a little island in the middle of nowhere and drink coconuts and eat fish fifty different ways. Not now.

...But not never.

* * *

**I liked this one. I think Fang sounded real poetic. Then again, I'm strung out on pain killers at the moment. So I'm probably not a good judge on what's poetic and what's gibberish.**

**Why, you ask, am I on pain killers? Simple; I woke up feeling like hell this morning. So I'm taking a sick day ... and many prescription drugs. :)**

**Iggy II: How many did you take?**

**Me: I don't know. It was enough for me to text Danielle and say: HI SPAMILA!!!! I WUV YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!**

**Iggy II: Spamila?**

**Me: It's her full name, duh Iggy.**

**Iggy II: Okaaaaaay ... I think you should go take a nap now ...  
**

**Me: What are you taking about ... I have to ... post the ... zzzzzzzzzz ...**

**Iggy II: -dragging Sam out of room- Jammies, you know what to do.**

**Jammies: -nods- -posts chapter-**

**Review please!  
**


	75. Epiphany

**Leah had a dream that she was giving out Oscars at our lunch table. Haely got Most Likely To Start Their Own Clothing Line. Halle got Most Likely To Start Their Own Religion. And guess what prestigious award I got? **

**Most Likely To End Up In An Asylum.**

**Thank you, Leah. That you _so _much.  
**

**Disclaimer (claimers in DISguise): I don't own Maximum Ride or any of it's amazing plots or themes!

* * *

**

**Fang POV (101-105)**

I didn't get much sleep that night, what with having second watch and all. But I got enough to function normally when Max came around and kicked us all awake (in a loving, motherly way of course). Iggy instantly started breakfast, asking Nudge to read labels for him as he coached Gazzy in building the fire. Within ten minutes of waking up we were all sitting around the fire and roasting various meat products. Max and I started talking about what we should do next. We knew we were going to Florida, we just didn't know _why_.

"Disney World for sure," Nudge said around a mouthful of hot dog, so it came out more like, _Isney Worl fo sho._

"Yes, Nudge. I know," Max said patiently. That was the one thing that the kids would not let Max back out of. "I was wondering what we would do _afterward. _Unless you guys just want to live at Disney World for the rest of you lives."

And that, is a good example of a rhetorical question you should _never _ask.

"Oh, my God! That'd be awesome! We could, like, sleep on the rides and eat food from the concession stands!" Nudge said excitedly.

"And we'd be able to ride stuff at night, while it's all closed and there's no lines!" Gazzy added.

"Guys, guys!" Max shouted over them, raising her hands as if that one gesture would quiet them. "I was joking, being sarcastic."

"You didn't _sound_ sarcastic," Nudge muttered.

"I'm always being sarcastic. I'll tell you when I'm not." Max looked back to the fire, turning the hunk of pork slowly.

"Still," Angel said, nibbling on a Dorito, "it would really cool."

Max smiled, taking a chip out of the bag she and Angel were sharing. "Yeah," she said. "It would."

There wasn't much conversation after that. A few times Nudge would find something to say and would fill the silence for a few minutes, but eventually even she just focused on eating. We couldn't have too much though, since our supplies were low to start with. So once everyone had had a bag of chips and thirds on the hot dogs, we packed up everything and went to work making plans.

"I was thinking we should head straight to Disney," Max was saying as she shoved some extra bottles of water into Iggy's pack. "That way we can get it out of the way. And maybe," she turned to me, pitching her voice so only I could here it, "find a town with a library. Do some research."

I nodded, liking the idea of finding a little place far away for the Flock. Even if it was highly unlikely, the image was still nice to imagine. We could have a little cabin or something, eat coconuts and go fishing. Iggy could even start a garden. But it would be a manly garden, with lots of manly plants. Like, peanuts, and baked potatoes. And we could do whatever we wanted, whenever. No Erasers, no whitecoats, no _Jeb _—

"Yoohoo, Earth to Fang," Max said, waving her hand in front of my face. I looked at her and cleared my expression, the small half smile I had let slip by disappearing.

"What?" I asked.

"We gotta go," she said, pointing over her shoulder to the rest of the Flock. They all had their backpacks on and were waiting at the mouth of the cave.

"'Kay," I said, grabbing my pack and slinging it over my shoulders. I always had the straps as large as possible, that way I could extend my wings easier.

"Alright, guys," Max said, clapping her hands and nodding at Nudge. "Let's do this." Nudge jumped out first, her tawny wings hitting an updraft and carrying her out of sight. Iggy went next, then Angel, and then me. The Gasman followed behind with Max taking up the rear. When we were all in the sky I looked to Max, raising an eyebrow.

"We're in Georgia," she said, "so we'll need to head southeast for a while. I'm hoping to get at least five or six hours in." She looked at the rest of the group. "That sound good?"

They all agreed with varying levels of enthusiasm, and we started flying. There was silence most of the time, everyone just soaking up the sun and enjoying our current freedom. We weren't being chased, we weren't scared for our lives, and we weren't in danger.

Yet.

"Max! Fang! Watch this!" Angel called. We both looked to where her and Nudge were flying. When they saw us looking they went into a series of barrel rolls and flips, mirroring each others movements perfectly. Max smiled at both of them and I nodded in approval.

"Very nice, girls," Max said. They beamed and continued practicing, doing laps around the rest of us and preforming some of the tricks we'd learned from the hawks. Meanwhile Iggy and Gazzy stayed to the back of the group, playing 20 questions. Iggy was winning by a long shot, guessing correctly after asking only two or three questions. The Gasman, however, could barely get it after fifteen.

"That's it," Gazzy said eventually. "I quit."

"Come on," Iggy said, "one more time."

"No," Gazzy said, looking forward.

"One more time," he offered again.

"No. It's no fun. You always win, like, right away." Iggy grinned triumphantly. I looked at Max and we rolled our eyes. He'd had always been one for competition.

"I guess Iggy feels okay again," Max whispered, and I nodded. He'd been through a lot lately. We had found his parents; people who we'd all been looking for, but that Iggy finally had. And then they'd gone and betrayed him, turning him into a money making machine, not a son. He'd been pretty quiet when he first got back, but since this morning he seemed fine, as if nothing had happened.

Max rolled her shoulders, moving Total around in her arms. "Want me to take him?" I asked. She smiled gratefully and nodded, handing him to me.

"How long till we get to Florida?" Nudge asked, breaking away from the others and hovering over by Max. "Are we really going to Disney World? Do you think we'll see anyone famous? I want to go to the Swiss Family Treehouse. I want to see Beauty and the Beast and get their autographs. I want to see the Tree of Life —"

Max held up a hand, cutting off Nudge's ramblings. "Okay, hang on. I'm hoping we can go to Disney World, but we have to get down there first, check everything out. We just crossed the Georgia-Florida border, so —" This time it was Max who was cut off.

"The ocean!" Gazzy shouted, pointing towards to the east. We all turned to see a long stretch of blue in the distance, surrounding the land for as far as I could see (which is pretty dang far). "Can we go to the beach?" Gazzy asked, shooting a look at Max. "Please? Just for a minute?"

I had a sudden flashback to the last few times I'd been on a beach. Most of them ended with me getting my ass kicked, but others weren't that bad. Though we hadn't had a good visit in ... well, a very long time.

"It's almost winter," Max said, even though the sun was shining and a nice afternoon breeze was blowing over us.

"But the water's not cold," Iggy pointed out.

Max glance at me, looking for some help. I just shrugged, not wanting to play bad guy, but not wanting to go either. She looked thoughtful for a moment, a scowl slowly finding it's way onto her face. I looked at Angel questioningly, and she mouthed 'voice'. Ah, that explained it.

Max shook her head, looking at the kids with a mischievously smug smile. "Hey, guys, wanna go to the beach?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Gazzy said smiling wildly and slapping a high five with Iggy.

"Yes, yes," Angel chanted happily.

"I'm up for it," Total said, bobbing his head up and down in his arms. Nudge and Iggy cheered and whistled. I (quell surprise) remained silent, following Max as she swung in a graceful arc to out left.

"Beach it is," she said, and we all followed. The kids chattered excitedly, trying to decide what to do first. Nudge and Iggy were having a heated discussion about who could make a better sandcastle, and Angel why trying to get Gazzy to agree to a race. But I wasn't paying too much attention. I was focused on Max's pissed expression, which as I watched turned to hurt. She had a far away look in her eyes, a sign that the Voice probably had something to do with this. She set her jaw and I could almost hear her yelling in her head. I just hoped she was keeping it clean for Angel's sake. I flew over to her, clearing my throat. She kept her gaze trained ahead, tears starting to pool in her eyes.

Wait, what?

I looked closely, and sure enough there was a small drops of water in the corners of her eyes. I tried to dismiss it as just the wind, but I knew Max better than that. I knew when she was upset, and now was one of those times.

"Yo," I said, flying closer and keeping my voice low. She finally looked at me and I searched her face, but she was keeping it carefully blank. "You okay?" I asked, trying to sound casual. "Is this a headache?"

She nodded, reaching up to rub her forehead but wiping the tears out of her eyes at the same time. I positioned one of my wings under hers, just in case I needed to catch her. "Yeah," she said. "A huge, freaking, unbearable _headache!_" She was shouting by the end and I blinked in surprise. The rest of the Flock fell silent and we all looked at her.

Max sighed, shaking her head and looking in the direction of the ocean. "See you at the beach," she mumbled to me, not meeting my gaze. Before I could get a word in edge wise she had sped off into the distance, her super speed making her a speck in the sky in less than a minute.

"Anyone care to explain what happened?" Iggy asked.

"No idea," I said, running over the last few seconds in my head. Had I said something wrong? No, it was probably the Voice. I swear, that thing was going to be the thing that makes her snap.

If only I'd known how accurate that statement would be.

"Fang? Shouldn't you go after her?" Angel asked, looking with a worried expression after Max.

"She'll be fine," I said, trying to convince myself as well as her.

"Was it the Voice?" Gazzy asked.

"Don't know," I said again, though I was almost positive it was. Angel nodded a little, letting me know I was right.

_What'd it say?_ I asked in my head.

**A lot of stuff, **she said vaguely, though I could here the anger in her voice in my head.

I added a bit of speed, waiting for the Flock to do the same. I did it again and again, until we were full out racing towards the beach, a feeling of impending doom settling in my chest.

"Fang?" Nudge called from behind me, worry lacing into her words. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," I said, and this time I meant it. I just knew that we had to get to Max. And fast.

"Oh no," Angel breathed, and I snapped my head around to look at her. We were only another minute or so from the beach, so I was guessing Max's thoughts would be coming into range. But judging by her pale face and horrified expression, they weren't that reassuring.

"Iggy!" I shouted. "Watch the kids, I'll be back in a minute!" I didn't wait for an answer, just poured on the speed and blasted forward. I wasn't going as fast as Max could, but I was going much faster than I ever had. And whether it was some new power, adrenaline, or a miracle, I was thankful.

As I got closer I started scanning the shore. My gaze stopped on a kneeling figure about a hundred yards down the beach. I looked closer to see it was Max with her head bowed, pain evident on her face.

And she was covered in blood.

"Max!" I shouted, though I couldn't even hear myself over the wind. Fear twisted my gut and pushed me forward. I landed ungracefully, catching myself before I fell on my face. I ran as fast as I could, my feet barely touching the sand before they left it again. Within seconds I was bending over Max, breathing heavily.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shouted, my normal emotionless facade completely forgotten. I took in the scene before me, my brain analyzing everything all at one.

Max was kneeling in the sand, a bloodied shell in her right hand, hovering in a ready position above the crease of her elbow. Blood was pouring our of the gash at an alarming rate, pooling around her and covering her jeans. She looked pale and tired. But most of all she looked like she was in extreme pain.

I grabbed her wrist and smacked her hand, the shell dropping out of it and landing in the red sand around us. "Are you _crazy?_" I asked, panic making it hard to think straight.

She met my eyes and I froze. She looked young, weak, and scared. She looked nothing like the Max I knew, the one who had saved my sorry ass a million times and was bound to save it a million more. She was just a look alike. A shell.

"Want the chip out," she said, looking at her lap. Her jeans were stained completely red. She sounded so frail that I almost broke down myself. This wasn't real. This wasn't _Max_. This was all a horrible nightmare that I would wake up from any minute.

But I wasn't waking up. And not even my screwed up mind could have imagined all of this.

And that's when I snapped.

"Look where you're cutting!" I yelled, taking my backpack off and ripping it open. "You're going to bleed to death, you _idiot!_" I grabbed to antiseptic and poured it onto her wound. I'd usually be more careful then that, but I wasn't thinking straight. I _couldn't_ think straight.

"Max," Nudge whispered, kneeling beside Max as I looked for bandages to help clot the bleeding, I hadn't even noticed her and the rest of the Flock land, "what were you doing?" Her face was a mask of horror and shock.

"I wanted to get the chip out," she whispered back.

"Well, forget it!" I shouted angrily, wrapping her elbow in the bandage I'd found. I gritted my teeth, going back and forth between anger, shock, and utter confusion. "The chip stays in," I said, making her look at me. "You don't get off that easy! _You_ die when _we _die!"

She seemed to snap out of it a bit, looking around at each of us. She looked back to me, whispering, "I'm sorry," before bursting into tears.

She hunched her shoulders, burying her face in her hands. Angel made to hug her, but hesitated, not sure if it would hurt her or not. I couldn't even begin to imagine how she felt hearing everyone's mixed up thoughts. I could hear Nudge describing the scene to Iggy, who was patting the Gasman's shaking shoulder.

I watched Max for a few seconds, my thoughts a jumble as I tried to figure out what to do. _Should I yell? No, I've done enough of that. I can't say it's okay, because it definitely isn't. Oh God, why'd have to go and do this Max? I thought I was supposed to be the emo one _—

**Fang.** Angel's voice in my head snapped me back into reality. I looked at Max again, not even hesitating before I wrapped her arms around her and pulled her next me. We'd moved out of the puddle of blood, and I turned us so I wouldn't have to look at it. I pulled her head onto my shoulder and let her cry, just sitting there and rubbing her back. She pulled in her wings, making it easier for the others to crouch around us. Nudge ran her fingers through Max's hair, getting some of the sand out of it. "Shh, shh," she cooed softly.

"It's okay, Max," Iggy said. "Everything's okay." We all knew that _nothing _was okay, but no one said anything. Max grabbed the front of my shirt and buried her face in the crook of my neck. I could feel the tears soaking through my shirt, but I didn't care. I just let her stay there._  
_

"We're here," I whispered into her hair. "We're all here." She started to relax, her sobs turning to hiccups, and those turned to heavy breaths. I knew she would start to feel embarrassed (Max was just un-prioritized like that) and gestured for the others to move back a bit.

Max sniffled one last time, pulling away from me and sitting up. Her nose was red and the rest of her face was pale. I glanced at her bandages and saw that they hadn't been soaked through yet. I was still going to need to do a better job later. But I let it be for now, not wanting to upset her further.

"Sorry, guys," Max said, finally looking up at us. She deliberately avoided my gaze and kept back an eye roll. She was so childish sometimes.

Total laid his head on a non-bloody part of her jeans, whimpering slightly. Gazzy took a hesitant step forward, looking totally freaked. "We didn't have to go to the beach, Max," he said. She laughed, the sound a little off at first, but then sounding normal.

"It wasn't that, Gazzy," she said, reaching her hand out and ruffling his hair like she had done for years. He relaxed a bit, some of the panic leaving his eyes. "Just other stuff, getting to me."

"Like what?" Iggy asked.

She sighed and wiped some of the tears off her cheeks. She didn't look at us as she answered, taking a sudden interest in her sneakers. "Stuff," she said. "The Voice in my head. Everyone chasing us. School. Anne. Ari. Jeb. They keep telling me I'm supposed to save the world, but how, and from what, I don't even know."

Angel sat next to her and patted her knee. "From, you know, after everyone gets blown up and most of the people are gone. We'll be stronger, and able to fly, so we can leave the blown up parts and find some nice land that isn't blown up or contan — contam —"

"Contaminated?" Iggy guessed, looking unnaturally pale.

"Yeah, that. Then _we _can keep living, even if there are hardly any people left."

...

...

Um ... I really didn't have anything to say to that. And neither did the others. We just sat there, staring at Angel like she had grown a second head. Which, to be honest wouldn't even surprise me at this point.

"Uh ... where did you hear that, sweetie?" Max asked, sounding strangely normal after what had happened only a minute earlier.

Angel ran her fingers through the sand, avoiding the spots that were specked with blood. "At the School," she said. "I wasn't supposed to hear it, but that's what they thought."

"Who's going to blow up the world?" Gazzy asked, sounding less enthusiastic than he usually did when the subject was explosives.

She shrugged. "Lot's of people can — they have big bombs. Countries and stuff. But the people at the School kept thinking it would be just one company, a business company. They think it's going to blow up the world, mostly. Maybe even by accident."

"And what company would that be?" Max asked with deceptive calmness.

Angel frowned, concentrating on a rock a ways down the beach, as if it held all the answers. "Don't remember," she said. "Like, the name of a deer or something. A gazelle. Can I go swim?"

"Uh, sure," Max said, sounding as shocked as I'm sure we all were. Angel smiled and started skipping toward the water, Total close behind her. She dove right in, but the little dog instantly turn back, coming to sit by Max again. "That water's freezing," he said. He sniffed the air, and then went over to an outcropping of rocks to our right. Gazzy was in the water a few seconds later, while Iggy and Nudge went to talk on the rocks Total was investigating.

How they could act so calm after Angel had just predicted the fricking _apocalypse_, is beyond me.

"So, _huh?_" Max said once the others were out of earshot.

"Yeah. Surprise," I said, left over anger from earlier making my words short and clipped.

"How long has she been sitting on this? Why hasn't it some up _before?_" To be honest, I didn't want to talk about it. Being on the run while Max was possibly suicidal was enough. No need to add the end of the world to our ever growing list of problems.

"Because she's six and more concerned with her stuffed bear and dog?" I said, shoving the last of our medical supplies into my backpack. I couldn't help another glance at her arm. I thought I saw a small pink spot forming, but I didn't say anything. "I don't know. Plus, we don't even know if she understood what she heard. There's a chance she got it wrong."

Max thought about it for a bit, nibbling her bottom lip as she looked out over the water. "Even if aspects of it are wrong," she said, still looking at the ocean, "I don't see how she could misunderstand the whole blowing-up-the-world concept. And the fact that we were designed to outlast a catastrophe. It fits in with what Jeb keeps telling me."

I let out a slow breath, holding back the anger I always felt at the mention of Jeb. "So what now?" I asked for lack of a better response.

"I don't know. I need to think."

So I let her. We just sat there, not looking at each other, not talking, just sitting. I watched as Gazzy and Angel dragged a complaining Total into the water, splashing him and laughing when he started chasing a group of fish. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Max fingering her bandages delicately, wincing now and then.

"So what was that about?" I asked quietly, looking pointedly to her arm.

She sighed. "I'm just — really tired. The Voice was ragging on me about my destiny and how I have to get on the stick about saving the world. It just feels like too much sometimes." She stopped for a second, collecting her thoughts. I took the pause in conversation to think about what she'd just told me. I always knew Max had a lot on her plate, and I definitely knew it was more then she could handle. But did I think she'd actually admit it? Never.

"I've been running on adrenaline, without a master plan," she continued. "Everyday it just, keep the flock safe, keep us together. But now everything else has been dumped on me, all these bits and pieces that aren't adding up to a whole picture, and it's too much."

"Pieces like Ari and Jeb and Anne and the Voice?" I suggested helpfully.

"Yeah. Everything. Everything that's happened to us since we left home. I don't know what to do, and it's so freaking hard even pretending that I do."

"Walk away from it," I said, remembering our conversation from the day before. "Let's find an island. Drop off the screen."

"That sounds really good," Max said, sounding almost wistful. "But we'd have to get the others on board. I'm pretty sure the younger kids still really want to find their parents. And now I want to find out what this company is that Angel heard about. What if — you do research on an island possibility and I'll focus on this other stuff?"

"Yeah, cool," I said lamely. _Yeah, cool? She just had a serious trust-related breakthrough and your answer is 'Yeah, cool.' Idiot ..._

We sat in silence again, watching the Flock. Gazzy and Angel seemed fine in the cool water, and Nudge was handing Iggy shells as they walked up and down the shore.

"Sorry," Max said so quietly I could barely hear her. "About before."

I glanced at her, keeping my face blank. I was happy to see she had moved past her little emo-moment, but it was still hard not to worry. We had been through hell and high water, and we knew worse was coming. I couldn't imagine what the Flock would do — what _I _would do — if Max gave up. And though she wasn't _trying_ to kill her self this time, the possibility had still scared the hell out of me.

"You almost gave me a heart attack," I said as quietly as she had. "When I saw you, and all that blood ..." I picked up a rock by my feet and threw it as hard as I could down the beach. The picture of Max kneeling a pool of her own blood, sawing at her arm, wouldn't get out of my head.

"I'm sorry," she said, leaning her head against my shoulder.

"Don't do it again," I said.

"I won't."

Things changed then. It was like we had just skipped forward in time, without actually leaving the present. Our way of thinking had changed, but we were still the same as we had been seconds ago. I saw Max differently. Her head against my shoulder wasn't a brother-sister sort of thing. It was ... I don't know. More? Maybe. Different? Definitely.

I was about to say something, though I'm not really sure what. But our little bubble was burst when Angel shouted, "Hey! I can talk to fish!"

_Another _power?

"You can what?" Max asked, all seriousness from our conversation gone in a flash. She stood up and went to the water's edge, looking at Angel who was standing a few feet into the shallows.

"I can talk to fish!" she repeated, saying it like a normal six year-old would announce they just drew a picture.

I stood up and walked over to stand by Max. Angel was standing in knee high water, her hair plastered to her grinning face.

"Ask one over for dinner," I suggested.

The Gasman shook his head, sending water in all directions. "You can _not_," he accused.

"I'll prove it!" Angel said back, and for a second they seemed like a normal brother and sister. But then I remembered that Gazzy was shaking water off his _wings_ and Angel was proving she could talk to _fish._

As Angel dived under the water again Nudge and Iggy joined us. "She talks to fish now?" Iggy asked, raising his eyebrows.

Before anyone could answer his question, a six-foot long shark popped out of the water. It's mouth was open wide, not five feet from where Gazzy was standing. My eyes got wide and I heard Nudge squeak in alarm, tapping Iggy's hand in a signal to stay quiet. Max moved quickly into the water, grabbed Gazzy's arm, and hauled him out. She put an arm around his shoulders and ran her fingers through his hair, trying to calm his panicked breathing. Angel surfaced a few feet away from the shark, looking perfectly at ease. Max, however, was freaking out. She gesture for Angel to get out of the water, but she just laughed.

"He's my friend!" she said. "He's saying hi!" The shark turned and started heading towards her, nearly twice her size. But yet she just stood there, smiling. "Go on, maybe you should wave!" she said to the giant animal only three feet away from her. Max was leaning forward, her wings already extended so she could swoop in and grab Angel. But she didn't have to, because the shark stopped swimming towards Angel, flopped onto it's side, and waved it's fin.

"Holy cra —," Gazzy started but Max said, "Gazzy!"

"Would someone please tell me what the heck is going on?" Iggy asked irritably.

"Angel just made a shark wave it's fin at us," Nudge explained.

"Uh — wha ...?"

Out of nowhere three more sharks surfaced, all of which turned on their sides and waved to us.

"Isn't that so great?" Angel asked between laughs.

"That's awesome!" Total said, coming over from the rock he'd been hiding behind. "Make them do it again!"

"That was neat, sweetie," Max said, still looking pale. "Now please ask the sharks to leave, okay?"

Angel shrugged and turned to the sharks. It looked like she was doing a mix between thought control and just asking. But I couldn't hear either. They headed back into the ocean, their fins being the last thing we saw before they disappeared.

"That was _so awesome_," Total said as Angel got out of the water. He licked her leg and then stepped back, making little gagging noises. "Ugh! Salt!"

"So, Angel talks to fish, is that right?" Iggy asked. "And this is useful how?"

_I don't think it _is_,_ I thought. I mean, flying really fast, reading minds, and even breathing under water were all useful gifts. But Angel was part _bird_. Talking to fish wasn't a skill she'd need to use often. Unless we were looking for some food, but we didn't stay on beaches too much, so that wouldn't be a common option.

Oh well, as long as she got all the fishy gifts and I didn't start growing gills, I'd be just fine.

* * *

**FORESHADOWING. FORESHADOWING. FORESHADOWING. FORESHADOWING. FORESHADOWING. FORESHADOWING. FORESHADOWING.**

**Not for this book of course, but it's foreshadowing nonetheless. And did you notice how I did it earlier with the 'the voice is gonna make her snap' thing? Yeah, I did that on perpose.**

**Wow. Sorry about that mini rant. I'm just really proud that I'm actually using something I learned in school.  
**

**And hey, sorry I haven't updated in a bit. I've just had a lot on my plate. One of those things being the New Moon premier. Not that I'm going to spoil it for y'alls. But would it be ruining it to say that it was drop dead fricking amazing? Well, I guess I'll have to wait for reviews to find out.**

**RnRing is much appreciated.  
**


	76. A Name

**So here is how my bus ride home went: Devyn smacked Halle. Halle called Macray a bitch. Macray called me gay, resulting in a slap fight. And then I called Devyn a retarded gerbil.**

**It was like a never ending circle of love and friendship.**

**Disclaimer: Let's see here, is James Patterson a girl in a tube top and mini skirt who carries her dog wherever they go? No? Well then, I guess Paris Hilton doesn't own Max Ride. And while I'm on the subject, neither do I.

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**Fang POV (106-109)  
**

So after the little emo-fishy-fun-fest at the beach, we had to keep going. Max decided that we'd go as far as we could tonight, and then crash wherever seemed most comfortable when it got dark. I could tell the kids weren't enjoying the thought of sleeping in a tree, but they didn't complain. We'd been doing this for too long for it too really bug us.

We slowed when we got to the Georgia-Florida border and landed. Iggy and I went by a store to pick up some more food. Max had drawn the short straw and had to watch the kids, but we weren't gone long, so it wasn't a big deal. I'd picked up some boxed of cereal, hot dogs, turkey slices, granola bars, and some other miscellaneous things. Iggy had managed to find some refills for our first aid kit, too. I had used most of the bandaging and gauze on Max's arm, both which had bleed through by the time we got to the camp.

"Not now," Max said as I walked towards her with the new kit. "We need to keep moving."

"Max," Iggy said. "Don't be stupid. It'll get infected if you don't change the bandages."

"I'll be fine, Ig. It's getting dark out anyways. Let's just go for another hour or two, then we'll make camp." I looked at her, about to argue, but stopped myself. She looked really tired, and though that was only more of a reason for me to stick to my guns about this, I just couldn't. Max didn't need more stress, so I guess I'd just have to wait.

"Fine," I said, putting the kit into my bag. We walked farther away from the park we were standing in and into the woods. We came across a clearing a few yards in and took off, heading southeast.

"Oh, wow," Nudge said a little while after the sun had set. "Look at all the lights."

We all looked down to see that the ground was covered in small, twinkling lights. We were high in the sky, but there weren't any clouds to block our view. The lights sat in clumps to the sides of moving streaks of colors. I knew they were cars, but from up here they looked like those little firefly things were buzzing around down below. I had to agree with Nudge; it was pretty wow.

"Max," Angel said, flying up beside her. "I'm tired. Can we land soon?"

Max looked below us again, and I did the same, searching for a place to stop. I saw a corner of black to our left that I assumed was trees, since the lights surrounding it didn't seem the penetrate it's surface. I looked at Max the same moment she looked at me. She nodded towards the black spot, and I nodded back in approval. She angled downwards and the others were close behind, me taking up the rear.

As we got closer I could see that it was in fact trees. Big ones too. Pines, my favorite. Not only did they have big branches that weren't too uncomfortable, but they were like natures perfume. You could go without a bath for a week, but then one night in a pine tree and you're good to go. These ones had thick trunks with vines and such hanging off of their strong branches. The leaves were thick and packed together, creating a good cover to hide under.

"Where are we?" Iggy asked, skimming inches over some of the higher branches.

"Not sure," Max replied. "You see anything, Fang?"

I looked around, noticing a small path leading into the trees a few yards away. I swooped down and landed in the bushed, looking around before stepping onto the trail. A large wooden sign was stuck into the ground and surrounded by small white flowers. 'Ocala National Forest' was painted in big green letters across the front. In cursive too, which along with the small amount of light and my very basic reading skills, it was almost impossible to read. But I had raptor vision on my side, so I was able to make out the swirling letters easily enough.

"Ocala National Forest," I said once I was back in the air. Max nodded and started dropping towards one of the openings in the canopy. There was a few seconds of silence and then a wet sloshing noise, followed by Max's disgusted, "Yuck!" Nudge and Iggy slowly lowered through the trees, their eyes (and in Iggy's case, ears) searching for Max.

There was a muffled shout and then a closer one. "To the left," Angel clarified, hovering right over the opening in the trees. She dropped down and Gazzy followed. I went in after him, being sure to keep Total close, so he wouldn't get hit by a branch.

"Ew," he said from my arms, scrunching up his small nose. "What's that smell?"

I sniffed the air (though cautiously; I mean the Gasman had _just_ gone through here). "Swamp?" I guessed. I veered to the left once the branches started to become less dense, and landed near where I could hear the flock talking.

"Fang!" I heard Max call from my right. "Over here!" I walked through some bushes and got to a small clearing in time to see Iggy and Nudge pulling Max out of a swamp (Ha, called it). Her jeans were brown up to the calf, where they then turned a purplish red color, and then finally to grass stained denim. Damn, we'd been on the run for less then two days and she had already managed to ruin her clothes. Not that it mattered, we weren't expecting to go anywhere public any time soon.

"Ugh," Nudge said once they'd pulled Max out. "It smells like Gazzy over here."

"Maybe there's a reason for that," Gazzy said mischievously.

Nudge rolled her eyes and turned to Max with a pleading look. "Okay, okay," Max said, holding up her hands. "Let's go find a place to make camp and start a fire." She shivered. "It's freezing."

We walked a few yards from the swamp, finding a nice dry patch of grass inside a circle of trees. You could look straight up and see the stars through the tree tops. There was even a small sliver of moon sending a little halo of light down on the clearing. (Wow, I'm getting good at this. Quite poetic for a birdkid, no?)

"This is good," Max said, standing in the middle of the circle. "Easy to get out of, straight up through the trees, but almost impossible for anyone to track us overland."

"Home, sweet swamp," the Gasman said, making Max smiled.

And so we got to work setting up camp. Me and Max found some logs that we could sit on, and Angel helped Gazzy look for fire wood. Nudge was helping Iggy unpack food and blankets. Once Max and I had placed the third and final log around Angel's pile of sticks, I looked around, assessing how everyone looked.

Angel was fine, just a small grass stain on the knee of her jeans (We had all changed out of our school clothes and into normal stuff the day before). Nudge and Gazzy looked about the same. Iggy was wearing the new clothes he'd found us in the other day. The holes in his pants looking like they were there on purpose (which is a really stupid and inconvenient style if you ask me). I was fine, except for the bottom of my jeans were frayed, and there was a long slice through the back of my t-shirt. But as long as I kept my jacket on I was fine.

Max, however, looked like hell. She was standing with her hands on her hips, surveying our camp site. Her t-shirt was blood spattered, and her jeans had that mud to blood to denim thing I described earlier. The red blotch on the middle of her bandages just added to the look, which wasn't nearly as bad-ass as it sounds. It just made me mad, because it reminded me of the whole ordeal at the beach. But I shoved those memories away as soon as they popped up.

"Yo, Max," I said, walking up to her with my bag in my arms.

"Hm?" She turned towards me, and even in the very little light I could see the dark circles under eyes and the sand dried to her clothes.

"Here," I took a pair of shorts out of my backpack and handed to her. She looked surprised, and then looked down at herself. She let out a low whistle when she saw her jeans.

"They were Hollister too," she said in fake sad voice. "Such a shame ..."

I rolled my eyes and held the short out again. They were basketball ones Anne had gotten me for PE, though I never wore them. Mainly because they were blue. I hate the color blue. No, scratch that; I hate color.

Max sighed and took the shorts from me. "Thanks," she muttered, walking into the trees to go changed. I smirked at her back and headed over to the small fire Iggy had started.

"Can you make it bigger?" Total asked from where he was lounging on a log.

"Sure. I hear fur makes great kindling." Total huffed at my comment and Iggy's laughter. He trotted off to where Angel was spreading out her blanket, curling up in her lap.

"Alright, guys," Iggy called out a few minutes later, once Max had returned and the fire was up to Total's standards. "Let's eat."

We all sat around the fire and I passed out some food. We would skewer it with a stick and then put it in the fire, then eat once it was cooked. Angel sat by Gazzy, who helped her hold up both her and Total's sticks. Nudge was sitting on the log to my left and Iggy sat in front of it, leaning back against the wood. I sat on the left side of the third log, Max sitting on the right side. Before she started eating I changed the bandages on her arm, though she told me repeatedly that she was fine. And yeah, she may be fine now, but I'd like to see her say that when her arm got infected and we had to chop it off.

"Where'd you get those, Max?" Angel asked after she finished her first hot dog. She was looking questioningly at the shorts Max was wearing.

"They're Fangs," she said.

Nudge made a weird snorting noise and I round on her. She waggled her eyebrow at me and I glared. I didn't know what the gesture had meant, but judging by her grin and Iggy's poorly suppressed laughter, I knew it was nothing good.

The next ten minutes or so were quiet. I noticed Max was staring intently into the fire, looking thoughtful. I wondered momentarily about what she could be thinking.

**Something about stabbing Pop Tarts,** Angel said in my head. I raised my eyebrows at her and she shrugged. **She thought it,** she replied simply.

I rolled my eyes and went back to watching my food roast. As I watched the flames lick at the meat, an idea came to me, making my lips twitch into a small smirk.

"Nudge," I said and she looked at me. I help out my twig to her, making sure not to stab her with the slightly aflame spam. "Want some?"

She nodded eagerly, taking a big chunk off with her bare hands. She shoved it in her mouth and sighed. "Mmmm, that's good." Excellent, the bait was set.

I waited a few more minutes, then pulled the remaining spam off the stick and plopped it on the baggie that was Nudge's plate. She looked excitedly at it (the girl _does_ love her food) and I chuckled inwardly. This'll teach her to waggle her eyebrows at me.

"Want some more raccoon?" I asked, even though she already had it halfway to her mouth.

She froze, her eyes going wide as she stared in horror at the food in her hands. "It is _not!_" she said. "You went to the store. Didn't you? There's no way this is raccoon."

I shrugged, ignoring how Max was rolling her eyes at me. "Oh, maybe you're right," I said, looking thoughtfully at the bologna I'd stuck into the fire. "Maybe _this_ is the raccoon, and I gave you the possum."

She started coughing and banging her chest. "_Stop _it," Max hissed at me as she leaned forward to pat Nudge's back. I gave her and innocent look and she scowled, though I could see the humor in her eyes, which were also giving a perfect reflection of the fire.

"He's just kidding, Nudge," Gazzy said. "Last time I check Oscar Mayer wasn't making squirrel dogs."

Max sat up straight again as everyone else laughed. She was looking around us with that paranoid look I'd learned to watch for. I looked around too, scanning the trees. But it was pitch black anywhere more than fifteen feet from the fire.

I saw Angel move her lips, but couldn't hear her. She was watching a spot just over Iggy's head.

Max snapped her fingers twice and I glanced at her along with everyone else.

"Someone's here," Angel repeated softly, still watching that one point. I kept staring into the fire and turning the stick in my hand. But my back was braced and I was leaning forward, ready to jump up at any second. It would take us about ... three seconds to get into the air and out of the trees. But a I knew that a lot could happen in three seconds.

"What are you getting?" Max asked, barely audible, out the side of her mouth.

Angel frowned, never taking her eyes off the spot directly through the fire. "Not Erasers," she said. "Kids?" She seemed confused.

Max stood up and walked slowly to where Angel was looking. She narrowed her eyes and looked intently into the blanket of black that surrounded the camp. "Who's there?" she called, squaring her shoulders. I went and stood next to her, my body turned towards her but I was still looking forward. I had followed her gaze to two shadows that seemed darker and more solid than those around them. Slowly, they started creeping forward. They were small and human shaped, definitely not Erasers.

"Who are you," Max called again, and if I hadn't know her like I do, I would have been a little afraid of her. "Come closer, where I can see you."

The two shadows made it to the edge of the clearing, and as they stepped into the light I felt my eyes widen. It was two kids, a boy and a girl. They were both extremely skinny, with dark bruise like circles under their eyes. The girl had dark brown eyes and equally dark drown hair, though it was tangled and covered in dirt and grime, making it look black. The boy had light green eyes and white blond hair. It was much easier to see the twigs and leaves covering his head than the girl's. They were both pale and tired looking.

The girl glanced at me and Max, but then her gazes settled on the fire behind us and the food I had forgotten about and was now lying on the ground.

Max moved back a bit, picking up some hot dogs. The boy made as if to come forward but I turned more towards them, so that I was blocking their path. Max walked around me and I crossed my arms, looking stonily at the two. They didn't seem dangerous, but you can never be too sure. So I wasn't going to take the chance and let Max get hurt.

I didn't need to worry though. As soon as Max set the bag down with the hot dogs on it, it was as if we weren't even there. The kids fell on the food like hyenas on a carcass and started shoving them in their mouths whole. I swear, they weren't even chewing. Max kept giving them food, first bread, then more hot dogs. Eventually they started slowing down and I took the pause to hand them a container of water. They downed it in seconds, then pushed all the trash into a single pile and then crawled closer to the fire. They were both wearing all white, the girl in a knee length cotton dress, and the boy white pants and a white t-shirt. It wasn't a pearly white though. It was dingy and yellow with grass stains and smudges of mud and Lord knows what else.

"So — what's you story?" Max asked, getting right to the point.

"We got kidnapped," the girl said, not looking away from the fire.

"Kidnapped?" Max echoed.

The boy nodded, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "In south Jersey. From two different places — we're not related."

"We just ended up in the same place," the girl added, yawning tiredly.

"And where was that?" Max asked.

"Here," the boy said. "We escaped a couple times. Even made it to the police station."

"But both times our kidnappers were already there, like, filing missing-kid notices," the girl picked up when the boy was too tired to continue. "They just found us again, real easy." When she was done talking she curled up in a ball and pulled the thin cotton tube over her knees, then rolled over so her back was to us and she was facing the fire.

"So, who were your kidnappers?" I asked, hoping to get this last answer before they passed out.

"They were, like, doctors," the boy replied, also lying down. "In white coats."

Everything froze. There was no sound except for the crackle of the fire and the light snoring of the now sleeping boy and girl.

"Well," Iggy said into the dead silence, "this can't be good."

"I agree," Max said, looking at the two kids. They looked so young and non-dangerous, but yet they were more dangerous to us than Erasers were. They had whitecoats coming after them, looking for them. Which meant when they do find them, they find us. And that is _not_ a good thing.

"Let's sleep on it," Max said eventually. "But keep extra close attention during watch." She directed the last part to me and Iggy, and we both nodded.

"I'll take first," I volunteered.

"Second," Iggy said.

"Then that leaves me with third," she said. Max and the kids went to opposite side of the fire than the two newcomers. Gazzy curled up in a patch of grass between two tree roots. With his wings wrapped around himself and the tall pieces of grass sticking up around him, he looked like a baby bird in a nest.

"Max, can I sleep on a branch?" Nudge asked. "They're more comfortable than trees. And if anything happens I can get to safety quicker."

"Okay, Nudge. Just make sure I can still see you," Max answered. Once Nudge was in a low branch Max laid on her jacket a few feet from the fire. Angel snuggled up next to her and Max covered her with one of her wings. Total curled up by Angel's feet, the tip of Max's wing covering his head. I could hear them whispering, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. And soon enough their talking was replaced with soft, even breathing, with the occasional snore from Total.

There was a rustling to my left and I looked up to see Iggy sitting down by a tree only three feet from the boy and girl.

"You gonna stay up?" I asked.

"Nah, just wanna be closer to them. If they move, I'll wake up." It was true, Iggy would. Ever since he'd lost his sight all of his other senses had strengthened. His hearing was his strongest one. The guy can tell who's in the room simply by their footsteps. Not to mention that he can tell who we are by our fingertips (and interesting trick he'd learned a few years back).

I didn't say anything back to him, just let him fall asleep. The next hour or so was spent with me sitting on the log Max and I had shared earlier. I had cleaned up all the wrappers and trash from earlier and put the left over food in our packs. I had a stick in my hand, and used it to move around logs when needed. But besides stoking the fire I was concentrating on nothing else. My senses were completely open and I could hear everything around us. I was so tuned into my surroundings that I knew the boy was about to wake up about ten seconds before he actually stirred.

He shot into a sitting position, breathing heavily. He looked around frantically for a moment, before his eyes landed on the girl and he seemed to relax. He looked up and noticed me looking at him. I saw Iggy open one eye and start to get up, but I said, "It's okay, Ig," and he laid back down.

"Dream?" I asked the boy once Iggy was sleeping again. He nodded, laying back on his side. He didn't wake up again, so I stopped watching him and went back to listening. There was an owl in the tree Nudge was in, about twelve branches above her. It would _hoo_ every once in a while, making an echo bounce off the trees and make me tense. But the echo would eventually fade and I'd be left in silence once more.

About an hour before my watch was over I looked around the Flock. Everyone looked fine. Max's bandages hadn't bleed through again, so I was hoping that was a sign that she could start healing now. I watched her for a few minutes, looking at the way the fire cast shadows across her cheekbones and made her hair look a golden color, almost like Angel's. She didn't looked relaxed though. She brows were together and her hands were curled into fists, as if she was imagining fighting something. Which, knowing Max, wasn't unlikely.

"Uh ... un ..." I looked up to see Iggy rubbing his eyes and sitting up. I peeked at my watch and saw that it was about 1 in the morning. Oops, forgot to trade watches.

"Your watch," I said, getting up off the log and stretching. He nodded and came to take my spot, immediately picking up the stick I'd been using and poking the fire once. Flames shot at least a half a foot higher and I blinked a few times. Holy crap, I knew he was a pyro but that was just crazy.

"Air pocket," he explained, somehow knowing what I was thinking. "The oxygen feeds the fire."

I nodded, not really understanding, and laid on the ground, feeling exhausted. I curled up on my side and used my backpack as a pillow. I fell asleep quickly and immediately started dreaming. I can't remember what it was about though, but I know it included Max and a giant octopus (yeah, like _that _would ever happen). I also remember that I woke up to shouting. My eyes snapped open and I looked around. Iggy was already asleep, but Max wasn't on watch. In fact, she wasn't even here.

And neither were the two kids.

Oh crap.

"Yo, get up," I shouted, running to each flock member and waking them up. Nudge had somehow found her way out of the tree and into the spot Max had been while I was on watch. Gazzy was practically eating his backpack while he was sleeping, and he gave quite a start when I kicked him awake and the first thing that happened was his pack poking him in the eye. Iggy woke up instantly and followed after me as I went into the woods. The shouting was now accompanied by sobbing and I had a flashback to what had happened at the beach. Me shouting, Max crying ...

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I moved faster through the bushed, going towards the voices. Looking over my shoulder and I saw that the Flock was right behind me. Good. We didn't need whatever was waiting for us when we found Max _and _have one of us get lost out here.

Up ahead I could see Max kneeling in front of the girl, her face streaked with tears. Max was talking to in her in a voice too low for me to hear, but I could hear the girl just fine, since her sobs were making her shout.

"_... _who kidnapped us," she was saying as I stepped up behind Max. "They've had us for months. They took me in August."

"Me too," the boy chimed in, his voice thick with tears. "Those guys — they sent us to find you. They didn't feed us for two days, so we'd try hard. And we did. And you gave us food." He succumbed to another round of tears.

"They said if we didn't find you, they would never come get us. We'd be lost in the swamp until something killed us. I'm sorry. I had to." She had managed to stop crying about half way through, but she still looked scared.

Max turned towards me. "Get our stuff. We're gone." I nodded and rounded up the kids and Iggy, herding them back to camp. As we started packing up I kept glancing behind over my shoulder, waiting for Max to appear.

"What happened?" Nudge said after a little while. She was asking everyone but looking at Angel.

"I think that company sent them. They had a transmitter, but Max got rid of it. I don't know if they set it off or not though."

My panic levels were steadily rising. _Transmitter?_ That meant that the whitecoats and Erasers could be here any second. I looked at the sky through the leaves but didn't see anything. And I couldn't hear anyone coming, but that didn't mean there was no one there.

_Dammit! Where's Max?_

Just as I thought that, a familiar voice spoke up behind me. "Let's go." I turned around and handed Max her backpack. Her face was stony and emotionless, but I could still tell she was upset.

"What about the kids?" Nudge asked. "I mean, I know they sold us out and all, but they had to. We would of done the same if we were in their position."

Max sighed and rubbed her temples. "They're staying here. The School'll come looking for us, and have to pick them up. But just in case, I plan on stopping in the next town and calling the police."

"Did they tell you anything about the company?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah," she said, putting her pack on and spreading her wings. "It's called Itex."

_Itex, _I thought. _Hm. Well, it may not be much, but at least we had a name._

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**That took me a lot longer to type than I planned. Oh well, you people in timezones outside of the Americas will get to read this first I guess.**

**Also! It's Thanksgiving break here in the good ol' US of A. So I have a four day weekend! Yay! So I'll hopefully have another chapter up tomorrow. and maybe I'll finally post that new story I was supposed to have up _forever_ ago. I finally got the plot figured out, so I think I'll have the first chapter up by Saturday.**

**Well, I'm off to have some pumpkin ice cream. I hope you enjoyed!!!**

**Review, please?? -Bambi eyes-**


	77. Retarded Group Hug

**Heeeeeeey! I had a great Thanksgiving yesterday, I hope you guys did too. Or a good Thurday, depending on where you live. Well, I only have one little anecdote for y'alls today, and it is this:**

**My aunt (who's not really my aunt, but whatever) brought her parents to Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. I was sitting in the guest room, listening to my ipod, when Estelle (my aunt's mom) comes in and asks me what I'm listening to. I say, "Oh uh ... -blush- Love Game by Lady Gaga..."**

**You know what her response was? "Lady Gaga? I _love_ her!" So there I was, watching my sorta-grandma singing Love Game with that adorable British accent of hers. It was one of the most epic moments of my life.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Maximum Ride then my name would be James Patterson. But it's not ... so I don't.

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**Fang POV (110-116)**

It had been about an hour since we left the woods. It was light out again and we were already somewhere in central Florida. From this high up we could see the ocean to either side of us, but only a small sliver of it. As the sun grew higher in the sky, it turned the water into a silver band that wrapped around the land below, giving the effect that there was nothing beyond it.

"So, Itex," Max said, drifting closer to me. After she'd announced what she'd learned earlier we hadn't really gotten a chance to talk. The distance sound of a chopper had forced us to leave, and we'd been too busy watching out for Erasers since then.

"I told you it was like a deer," Angel said before I could get anything out.

"That's _ibex_," Nudge corrected. "And they're more goatlike than deerlike."

"Whatever," Angel said.

"It's not ringing a bell," I said to Max, ignoring the two.

"They have long horns and live mostly in mountains," Nudge explained. Max smirked and I gave her a dry look before turning towards Nudge.

"No, I mean Itex," I said, and she made and 'Oh' face. "They said it was a big company, but I've never heard of it. Which doesn't mean anything."

"Yeah, I guess your education has a few gaps in it," Max said. Before we'd been with Anne, all our only source of knowledge had been the TV or whatever Jeb had cared to teach us. Not that we were dumb or anything, we just didn't know all the fine details of things.

"Can we look it up somewhere?" Iggy asked. "Like at a library? Are we near a town?"

Below us was nothing but forests, but to our right was a cluster of tall buildings poking out of the trees.

"Yeah. Good idea," Max said, looking in the direction of the town. "Twelve points west, everybody."

We got into town about fifteen minutes later. It was small, so it didn't take long to find the local library. There was a row of computers in the back, out of sight of the front windows and check out counter, with there was an exit to right to the left of the row, leaving a perfect setup for us.

Max sat down at the computer nearest the exit. The only other person back here was an old woman with reading glasses on the end of her nose and a big floral printed skirt. She didn't exactly scream evil, so we seemed pretty safe.

"It's spelled like it sounds, right?" Max asked once she'd opened up a web page.

"Yeah; I-T-E-X," Angel spelled. She was sitting in the chair to the left of Max in Iggy's lap. Nudge was on Max's right with Gazzy standing behind her. I looked over Max's shoulder, glancing behind us every once in awhile to make sure we weren't drawing anyone's attention. But so far the only person we'd seen was the old woman, and she'd already left.

Max typed the name into Google and millions of results started popping up. SHe scrolled through the first few pages, the rest of us reading over her shoulders.

"They all say the same thing," she said quietly.

"And what's that?" Iggy asked, shifting in his chair.

"That Itex is huge. No, more than huge. It's everywhere. It owns _everything_," Max said, an edge of panic sneaking into her voice.

"Yeah, it says here that 'Itex is a multi-billion dollar company with branches in fast food franchises, medicine, real estate, computer companies, book publishing, manufacturing, and many other types of business'." As Nudge started read through the list of industries I started to realize how big this thing really was. This wouldn't be like taking down some office building in the middle of Death Valley, it would like taking down half the world.

"So, we're pretty much screwed, right?" Iggy asked. Max smacked his arm but nodded.

"Wait! Look there!" Nudge was pointing to a link towards the top. It was for an Itex branch here in Florida, with an address and everything.

"Write that down," I told her, handing Nudge a pen and a piece of paper from the table behind us. She wrote it down, including the phone number and a few miscellaneous pieces of information. "Got it," she said, folding the paper and putting it in her pocket.

"Okay." Max pushed her chair back, logging off and shutting down the computer. "Let's get out of here."

We all stood up and followed. But before we left I picked a random book off the shelf, flipping to the copyright page. There, next to the publishers name, was the Itex logo. A large capital 'I' with the rest of the name written in smaller capitals next to it. There were circles of blue and silver around the name and the words 'publishing company' written beneath it.

"What is it?" Max asked, walking over to where I was standing. I held the book out to her and she blinked. We took a few more books off the shelf, and almost every single one had the Itex logo on it. Plus, now that I thought about it, I'd always seen it everywhere. Especially back at the School.

"Where to now?" I asked once we were back in the air and heading south. Sure we had a place to check out, but we weren't exactly sure what to do once we got there.

"Disney World," Gazzy and Nudge said at the same time.

"Yeah, you _promised_," Angel added.

"Guys, come one, think about it. We're on the _run_. We can't just detour to go see a guy dressed up as a cartoon mouse."

"But it's _more_ than that, Max!" Nudge shouted, seeming truly upset by what Max was saying. "It's a place where we can have fun and relax and finally, for just once in our lives, enjoy ourselves."

"No," Max said, her voice stern.

"Please, Max?" she asked, holding her joined hands out in a begging gesture.

"No way. It's too risky. The whole place is fenced in. There's a million people there. We'll be in crowds."

Max's reasoning seemed to slide off of Nudge like water on a duck (an ironic analogy, considering we have wings and all). "Fang?" she asked, and I made sure to not look at her. I could almost _feel_ her giving me the Bambi eyes.

I just shrugged and held up my hands. Max was leader, I was just an innocent bystander in the bloodbath that this could likely turn into.

"Pleeease, Max?" Gazzy asked, snapping Max out of the 'traitor' look she was giving me.

Max didn't look at him, instead staring straight ahead. Below us was none other than the city of Orlando. Of all the places we could have flown over, we had to pick the one that the kids would kill to land in.

"Max?" Nudge asked, sending Max the Bambi eyes. She must have sensed them and kept her eyes trained on the horizon.

"Oh, come on!" Total complained from where he was with Iggy. "We're not going to the Magic Kingdom? How lame is that?"

Max glared, but he didn't even flinch. I swear, that dog was going to end up "accidentally" falling out of the sky one day.

"A couple rides?" Angel said in a reasonable voice. "Splash Mountain?"

"Maaax?" Nudge called again. This time Max looked, and I saw her wince when she saw Nudge's expression. Max glared ahead, obviously defeated. I could almost hear her cursing the Bambi eyes in her head.

"Fine," she said between gritted teeth. "A couple rides, some cotton candy, and we're out of there."

The kids and Iggy started cheering, slapping high fives and arguing about what they wanted to ride first.

Max met my eyes and I shook my head at her, acting disappointed that she'd given in so easily.

"Who let whom have a freaking dog?" she shot back at me.

I chuckled. "It's a nifty trick, huh?" I said.

"Yeah. I swear, if Itex ever learned the secret that is the Bambi eyes, then I don't care what the voice says, we're done for." I smiled at that and she smiled back. But then she remembered she was supposed to be mad at me and looked away, making me smirk.

The kids were practically bouncing with excitement when we got to the gate. We of course didn't actually go _through_ the gate, just sort of flew over it. But it was still a part of the gate, and they were still bouncing. We went down Main Street, taking in all the little Victorian style shops and the trolley line that went down the center of the street. We stopped by an ice cream shop and used Anne's credit card to get us each a double cone.

"I want to go to every shop," Nudge said, licking happily at her chocolate ice cream. "I want to see every single thing."

_So much for a few rides and then we're out..._ "Don't these people have jobs?" I whispered to Max. "Why aren't these kids in school?" There were literally hundreds of people around us. Most of them children that should have been in a classroom and not getting Mickey Mouses autograph. But I guess some parents aren't as strict as others.

Max ignored me, which sort of ticked me off. No, I didn't back her up on her whole anti-Disney World thing, but it wasn't I was acting completely _for _it.

"We need to pick the most important things," Max said, leading the way towards Cinderella's towering white castle in the distance. "In case we can't stay long."

"I vote for Pirates of the Caribbean," Total said. He was wearing a red vest that said "Guide Dog at Work" on it. We'd bought it on a whim back when we were at Anne's, just in case we ever needed to get in somewhere dogs weren't allowed. Iggy even had sunglasses on and was totally milking the whole blind-guy gig, bumping into people and then looking around quickly like he didn't know what was going on. It also helped to get people out of our way faster. Like we were in a bubble of Cripple Energy that was pushing people aside for us.

"Ooh, Swiss Family Treehouse!" Gazzy said, pointing.

"Yeah!" Angel agreed, skipping along between me and Max.

Nudge had stopped and was staring up at Cinderella's Castle, a look of awe on her face. "It's so ... _beautiful_," she said.

"Yeah." Max smiled down at her, but it didn't touch her eyes. Her shoulders were hunched forward a little and she kept glancing around anxiously. I had to admit, this wasn't a very good set up. Hundreds of people all packed together so close that any of them could have a gun and we wouldn't know it until we'd already been shot.

Max suddenly veered to left, following a smaller crowd to a more open part of the park. Adventureland.

"Yes! Pirates of the Caribbean!" Total said happily. He ran forward, dragging a complaining Iggy along with him.

We stood in line for about ten minutes, the kids talking excitedly about what it would be like. We'd never been to any place like this before, never even been on a ferris wheel. So this was bound to be an interesting experience.

"That was so _awesome!_" a little boy shouted as he and a girl who looked just like him ran out the exit. Their parents weren't far behind, smiling at the two.

"Yeah!" the girl agreed. "I liked how they were singing the whole time! How 'bout you mama?"

"_Singing?_" I mouthed to Max and she rolled her eyes.

"Yes, singing, you doofus. Haven't you ever heard of this ride before?" she asked.

"To be honest you're the only Ride I know anything about," I said. It was true. Like I said earlier, I'm street smart, not book smart. Or, in this case I guess it'd be singing pirate smart.

"Ha ha, very clever," she said sarcastically just as we went through the doors. We had the right spots in line so that the whole Flock ended up on one boat.

"I'm sorry, sir," said a girl at the front of the line, looking at Iggy. "But you can't bring the dog on the ride."

Iggy whipped off his sunglasses dramatically and stared blankly at the girl, making her take a step back. "The last time I checked, this was America," he said. Before the girl could realize it didn't make any sense we had already pushed past her and gotten our seats.

"What was _that _about?" Max asked Iggy once we were buckled in. Angel and Nudge were sharing a bench, then Gazzy and Iggy, and finally me and Max.

"Some comedian guy said it. It was supposed to be a response to any question about the war, but I thought it worked for this situation too."

"Yes," I said sarcastically. "Because wars and amusement park rules are so interchangeable."

"Exactly," he said, turning back around when a new employee, this time a guy, announced that the ride was about to begin.

So our day at the house of mouse officially began. The boat plunged into the dark tunnels, and I instantly regretted having Angel and Nudge be the ones sitting closest to the other people on the boat. But my raptor vision showed that the family in front of us was too busy watching the robot pirates to pay us any attention. And I had to admit, it was pretty cool. The robots looked so _real_, and the whole affect over all was pretty awesome.

And then they started singing.

"You know, it was really manly up until this point," I said to Max. She elbowed me and said, "Stop, you're ruining the magic." I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut.

Our day continued with as much normalcy as seven mutants at Disney World could have. We went on all the most popular rides and bought a camera from the gift shop so that we could take pictures. Angel and Nudge got one with Cinderella and Snow White, and Gazzy some how managed to get _all_ the princesses into his picture. Max took a cool one of Iggy with his eyes closed, looking up at Cinderella's Castle. She had it set on black and white, and it turned out very artistic.

"I want a treehouse like that," Gazzy said, his words becoming slurred by the cotton candy in his mouth. "I mean, for all of us. Wouldn't that be so cool?"

We were wondering down Main Street again, having just gotten another round of food. I had picked up a box of Cracker Jacks, mainly because I'd never had them before. I had to admit, they were pretty good.

"So, so cool," Angel said, vanilla ice cream melting down her hand and disappearing under her shirt sleeve. "Can we do the Swiss Family Treehouse again?"

"Maybe after lunch," Max said, wiping the drizzle of white off of Angel's arm. I didn't know what she meant by 'lunch', since we were all just eating whenever we got hungry. I guess it'll just be when we stop eating. Which is unlikely. But whatever.

"We can build one," Iggy said after sneakily taking some of my Craker Jack (the bastard...). "Find a humongous tree and build our own treehouse."

"Yeah!" Gazzy exclaimed, shoveling another handful of cotton candy into his mouth. "We could do it! I know we could."

That last part reminded me of when we'd first moved into the house in Colorado, and all me, Max and Iggy would watch was _Bob the Builder_. We'd run around the house shouting, "_Yes we can!_" It was nice, how simple things were back then. I only wish it was like that now.

Max put her hand on Gazzy's shoulder and smiled down at him. "Okay. I'll put that on our list of things to do. Try not to eat too much junk, huh, Gazzy?" She said the last part with a motherly tone in her voice, and Gazzy beamed up at her, putting a little dime sized wad of the sticky blue stuff in his mouth.

I looked up and noticed a large sign to our left. "This way to Frontierland," I said, pointing. Max consulted the map she was carrying around, tracing a path with the tip of her finger.

"First Frontierland," she said, "and then — looks like the only good thing in Liberty Square is the Haunted Mansion.

"I want to see Mickey's Country House," Angel said, leaning her head against my side and smiling happily. I smiled back at her.

"That's in the Toontown Fair place," Max said, pointing to a spot on the map. "We need to go through some other stuff first. But we'll go." Our plan to stay for only a little bit had vanished the moment we'd stepped off the first ride. So now we were making a day of it, just having fun and pretending to be normal.

Which is one of the many things in life that is easier said than done.

"You know what's creepy?" Nudge said thoughtfully. "A chipmunk that big." There was a guy in a mascot suit who was smiling and waving and traumatizing young children as he walked down the sidewalk.

"Who is that?" Total asked, sniffing in the direction of the overly large and perky chipmunk. "Chip? Or Dale?"

"Don't know," Max said, licking the last of her ice cream sandwich off her fingers. "As long as he doesn't turn into a huge, chipmunky Eraser, I'm good. Yo — look. There's Splash Mountain. Line doesn't seem too bad."

"Is your dog talking?" a voice from behind us asked. I turned to see a girl in a sundress who had an awful sunburn. She was looking at Total suspiciously, who was in turn sniffing rock, trying to look normal.

Max laughed. "Our _dog_? No. Why? Does _your_ dog talk?"

"I thought he was talking," she said, continuing to look at Total.

"Jason," Max said in a scolding tone to Gazzy, "have you been practicing your ventriloquism again?"

Gazzy gave a shy smile and nodded.

"Oh," the girl said, then walked away to a near by gift shop.

As soon as the girl disappeared around a corner Max dropped her smile and glared at Total. He shrunk back a bit and gave her a big toothy grin. She just rolled her eyes and glanced at me. I gave her one of my rare smiles that I knew she loved. Why she liked it, I'm not sure. Maybe because she thought it was sign that I was going to have some sort of break through and soon I would start talking in full sentences.

Psh. Yeah, right.

She smiled back and took some of my Cracker Jack. "Hey," I said, turning my smile into a scowl.

"What?" she asked, her mouth full. We were making our way through the crowd and towards the line for Splash Mountain.

"I didn't say you could have any," I said, pulling the box protectively to me.

She rolled her eyes. "You were holding the box out in an inviting manner, I just did what any rational person with a candy craving would do."

I gave her a mini glare as we got into line, making sure to keep a close eye on my Craker Jack. We moved through the line rather quickly and were on the loading platform in front of the boats in no time. There were eight seats in each log, but the guy at the front was letting families and friends go by themselves. Score.

"Right this way kids, come on, keep the line moving." The guy didn't even glance at Total as he hopped into the seat between me and Angel. Iggy and Max were in the seat behind us, and Gazzy and Nudge were in the front.

"Aieeee!" Angel squealed as we started climbing the first hill. The log rocked slightly in the water, and we were soon being drenched in it as we went down the first slope.

"Ah! My hair!" Iggy shouted dramatically.

"_Your_ hair?" Total asked indignantly. "What about _mine_?"

"Would both of you just shut —" A giant wave came over the side of the boat and splashed Max right in the face, cutting her off.

"I think Max is the winner of the messed up hair contest," Nudge said between laughs.

"Hey, Nudge. I like that drowned cat look you've got going on," I said, smirking as she nervously patted her hair.

"Oh! This is where they take our picture!" Angel shouted excitedly a few moments later. I could see a little black box hidden in between some fake bushes off to the side.

"Smile!" Iggy said, leaning forward and pulling me, Max, and Angel together in a sort of retarded group hug.

"That's gonna be a good one," Iggy said once Max had managed to push him off. "I can tell."

"You were looking the wrong way," Gazzy said, laughing.

"_Your face_ was looking the wrong way!" he shouted back.

"What?" As Iggy opened his mouth to repeat it, another splash of water came up and he got a mouth full. He spit a long stream of water, making an 'ick' face.

"Eew, chlorine."

By the time the ride was over, we were all thoroughly soaked. Well, except for Total, who had used me and Angel as barriers the whole time. We went by the little gift shop and bought copies of our picture. I had to admit, Iggy's group hug plus Nudge and Gazzy doing Charlie's Angels poses added up to a pretty epic picture.

"God, I'm soaked," Max complained as we walked towards the exit, pulling off her drench sweatshirt.

"I don't think there's much God can do for you," I said, making her scowl.

"That was _so great_," Gazzy said, walking backwards and beaming at us.

"Splash Mountain really lives up to it's name," Nudge said, her arm locked with Angel's as they skipped ahead.

"I hated that ride," Total muttered, licking what little water had gotten to him off his fur.

"Let's go again!" Gazzy said.

We had just reached the exit when Max suddenly stopped, making the rest of us bump into her.

"Turn around," I heard her whisper. "Bandada — nayshapay."

_Erasers _—_ run._

"No — oh, no," Gazzy said, his face falling. "I can't believe it. Not now."

I patted his shoulder as we moved back through the crowd. About ten feet from the platform an attendant stepped into our path. "Sorry, kids," he said. "You have to exit out that way only."

"No, no," Max said, real panic making her act more believable. "We left our digital camera in the log! Mom will kill us! We just need to run back and check ..."

The attendant thought about it a moment, and Max used the pause to push past him, nearly knocking him off his feet. We ran after her, me and Ig carrying Angel and Total so they wouldn't fall behind.

Once we were back in the main part of the mountain Max looked around for a second, then started running down a walkway labeled "Employees Only". We barreled down it, looking left and right for a place to go.

"Here!" I shouted, stopped in front of a nearly invisible door. I grabbed Max's sleeve when she nearly ran past, holding Angel with my other arm. We swung open the door and ran through, entering a corridor with a door at the very end. There were no other places for Erasers to jump out at, so we made it to the end within seconds. Outside, we found ourselves in a thick grouping of bushed, which had grown over the path leading from the door.

"Come on," Max said, pushing her way through the over grown shrubs and along the path that hugged the side of the building. "Over to that fake mountain and then an up-and-away."

We were in the sky a few minutes latter, no Erasers coming after us. Nudge was crying but didn't say anything, which worried me more than the tears. Gazzy had his fists clenched and a look of anger on his young face. Angel just flew beside Max, looking mournfully down at the Sleeping Beauty pin that was now attached to her backpack strap. Iggy just looked sad, and me and Max were keeping to ourselves.

"I —," Gazzy started, his voice sounding thick with suppressed tears.

"What?" Max asked gently, gliding over to him.

"I wish we could have gone to the Haunted Mansion. It's supposed to be awesome."

"I know guys," Max said, giving all of us an apologetic look. But it wasn't her job to be sorry. It was Ari, who I'd gotten a glimpse of as we'd taken off. He'd been running around and barking orders into a walkie talkie. _He _was the one who ruined this, not Max.

"There was a bunch of stuff I'd been hoping to do too," she continued. "But you know we had to go."

"I hate stupid Ari!" Gazzy suddenly shouted. Max flinched back from him as he punched and kicked the air, and I just watched with a sad look on my face. Gazzy'd always been 'the trooper'. He never cracked, but now, seeing him acting out like this, it made me realize how truly messed up our situation was. "He always ruins everything!" he continued to yell. "Why does he hate _us?_ It's not out fault they turned him into an Eraser!"

"It's not that simple, sweetie," Max said in a soothing voice.

"His dad left him," Iggy said, bitterness making him sound sarcastic. "Just like all of ours. Then they Eraserfied him. He's a walking time bomb."

"How does he track us so easily?" Angel spoke for the first time since we'd left Disney World. I saw her glance at Total with a sad look in her eyes. But I was looking at Max's arm, where the white of her bandages was just visible under her sleeve. Yes, Total _could_ have a tracker in him, but we _knew_ Max had a chip. Not that that meant anything. She could be flying around with a giant neon sign that said "Hey! We're over here!" and we still wouldn't leave her. We were barely the Flock without Iggy, I don't what we'd do without Max.

"I don't know, Ange," she replied, frustration in her voice.

We continued flying south towards Miami. The address for the Itex building was near there, and we could stop in town to get some food and rest up before we attempted to infiltrate a (possibly) evil corporation that intended to blow up half the world.

A faint buzzing noise pulled my attention from the ground, to a small black helicopter that had just popped out of the trees. It was headed in a different direction from us, but then swung around to face us.

"Okay, guys, scatter and zoom," Max called out over the whirring of the machine. "Meet up in fifteen minutes, same heading." With no further instructions we all veered of in random directions, making the chopper hesitate. I could see the words "News 14 Florida" painted on the side with bright oranges and red paints. I still didn't trust it and kept a large distance between us as I went around.

I saw it start to turn in my direction, so I shot downwards and into the trees. They were packed closely together but I was able to move easily enough. The sound of the helicopter started to fade until it was gone completely. I flew cautiously back up through the canopy and into the open air. I couldn't see the chopper, but I did see a familiar speck in the distance.

Max.

Flying towards her, I saw other specks doing the same. They were slowly starting to take shape into members of the Flock, all of which were accounted for.

"We need to get out of the air," Max said, as soon as I was within hearing range.

"How?" I called back.

"I don't know. I was thinking a car or something. There's got to be a junk yard around here somewhere."

"What about a junk yard?" Iggy asked, flying over to us.

"We're gonna steal a car," Angel explained.

"Sweet!" Gazzy cheered, his mood lighter then it had been earlier.

"We're not _stealing_ anything," Max interjected. "We're simply taking something that nobody wants."

"Which way?" I asked. Max looked around, her eyes settling on a small blob of black in the distance. As I looked closer it sort of looked like a long , flat building, with piles of ... something, all around it.

"There," she said, pointing.

And so we began our journey into the world of the mundane and traffic bound.

* * *

**So, I had _no_ time to type on Thursady, only an hours yesterday, but now I have finally finished. So you people better enjoy it. Becuase this chapter gave me a very bad finger cramp.**

**Iggy: -eye roll-**

**Me: You got something to say, bird boy?**

**Iggy: -innocent look- Nope. Nothing at all.**

**Me: -grumbles- Oh well. Some news: I finally started my new story, if anyone's interested in checking it out. Also, I'm eating pie. I know that last one in no way affects you, but I just felt like saying it anyways.**

**And I was reading reviews for another story and this girl was like, "Have you heard of the new Iggy doll? Wind it up and it runs into walls!"**

**EPIC.  
**

**Review ... er ... ism ... ness ... Oh, just review!  
**


	78. Scolding For My Ninjaness

**Guess what I have on my forehead. A bruise. Guess how I got it. Fist fight? No. Jumped by Erasers? No.**

**Fell asleep in science and fell forward, smacking my skull against the table?**

**You betcha.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. Or Max II. Why am I mentioning her? Well, that's for me to know and for you to beg for knowledge of.

* * *

**

**Fang POV (117-121)**

We dropped down in the junk yard a few minutes later, moving silently behind a heap of crushed and melted metal. There had to be hundreds of stacks, each with varying sized pieces of trash. We were behind a rather large one, consisting of car engines, washing machines, and what looked like the giant speakers you'd see at a night club.

"Fang? See anyone?" Max whispered, crouching down next to me. I rose slowly, standing in the long shadow the trash heap made, trying to make out a figure in the distance. It shifted slightly, and came into view.

"One guard. Twelve o' clock," I said back. She nodded and snuck around me, running from pile to pile, always keeping in the shadows. A few minutes later she ran back, and I could still see the guy standing in the distance.

"He's got a fire going," she explained to us. "Doesn't even have a gun. And my guess is he won't be leaving his spot anytime soon. I did, however, notice a building down there," she pointed to our left, "that was packed with cars. I say we head there first."

We all nodded an started moving forward. Max was in the front with Total, making sure no other guards were lurking around, and Iggy and Angel stayed back, using their extra senses (or just extra good) to make sure no one was coming from the other direction.

Total trotted around the pile of car tires Max was behind, whispering something in a low voice. Max rolled her eyes and clamped his muzzle shut, then held a closed fist over her shoulder, our sign to move.

"Guys," Gazzy whispered and Iggy and Angel looked in our direction. After a look from Gazzy, Angel nodding, taking Iggy's hand and bringing him forward. Nudge, Gazzy, and myself slunk past Max and behind a pile of what looked like refrigerators without doors. Past there we bee-lined for the doors to the building. Well, building didn't really do this place justice. It was more of a plane hanger, with a high curved roof and a base as long as a football field.

I tried the handle and the door swung open easily, a sign that it had been used often, and recently. I just hoped whoever own this place didn't decide to pop in while we were here.

"Echo," Gazzy said, his voice bouncing back at us threefold. Max gave him a stern look and he smiled innocently, but kept his mouth shut.

The kids were poking around in the nearest rows of cars, with Max standing next to a work bench. I walked up behind her, leaning into her ear and whispering, "Okay, now, the last time we were in a car ..." she whipped around and swatted at me, giving me an annoyed look.

"That was different," she said, skipping over the usual scolding-me-for-my-ninja-ness. "Anyway, we're not going to steal a van."

"What are we going to steal this time?" Iggy whispered, skillfully stepping around a bucket of wrenches and coming over to us. "Can I have a turn driving?"

"Oh, ha ha," Max said, rolling her eyes. Iggy grinned contently, walking away, his annoyance quota for the day apparently taken care of now.

"That one," Max said, pointing to a navy blue car a few yard away. From what I could see there were three rows and none of the wheels were flat. Good signs for sure.

We walked over to it, the others joining us. I popped the hood open and sighed at what I saw.

Nothing.

"Don't they usually have engines?" Gazzy asked, earning Max's third glare of the evening.

"Let's try another one," she said. "Spread out."

We each went down a different row, checking each car thoroughly, finding something wrong, and then moving onto the next one.

"Hey, guys?" Iggy called, standing by a rusty pickup truck. "How about this one? Engine's still in, wheels are good."

"No windshield," Max said, moving closer to it. Iggy frowned and reached his hand out, getting it tangled in the thin plastic that was taped over the gaping whole in the front of the cab.

Each car we looked at had some kink in it that made it unusable. No engine, no windshield, flat tires, broken axis, gutted, and so on. A few were just too old to move, their outsides so rusted that I could probably punch right through.

About an hour after our search started, Max waved us forward and we sat in the the middle of the hanger, munching on granola bars and trying to come up with a plan.

"What now?" I asked, sitting next to Max. "Public transportation?"

She gave me a _look_, but before she could say anything Nudge came over to us.

"Max?" she said, almost hesitantly. "I've been thinking."

Max and I shared a glance, but still gave Nudge our full attention.

"If we take the seats out of the Camry, and the wheels off the Bug, and the battery out of the Caddy, and then we get the steering wheel from the Accord, and we drop that engine back into the Echo and hook up a new air filter, we could just take the Echo and be good to go." She gave us a nervous look. "Don'tcha think?"

Um ... wow.

"Whoa," Total said, staring at Nudge like the rest of us were.

"Uh," Max trailed off, obviously not understanding half of what she said (and truth be told, neither did I).

"There's it's air filter right on that table," Nudge said, as if that made everything clear.

"Since when do you know all this?" Max asked.

"I like cars," she said, shrugging. "I always used to read Jeb's annual car issue from _Consumer Reports_. Remember?"

"Huh," Max said as I tried going over Nudge's plan in my head again. But she had been talking too fast for me to remember most of it. "Well, I guess that sounds like a plan, then. Everyone clear on what to do?"

Nope.

"Yeah," I chorused with everyone else.

We set to work getting all the parts together (after Nudge repeated the plan, of course). Iggy and I rolled the tires over as Nudge set to work hooking up the air filter and the battery. Iggy helped Max guide the engine back into the place, and Angel handed Gazzy tools as he installed the new steering wheel. The toughest part was getting the front seat in, since it had decided that it wanted to fall over every time we touched it.

"Hm ... " Nudge looked thoughtfully at the seat before looking at Max questioningly. "Do we have duct tape?"

"Um, yeah. Why?"

"Uh, hello? Duct tape could hold the world together, so I'm sure it can hold a seat in place." Nudge gave her a 'duh' look. Alrighty then. So now Nudge is the car _and_ duct tape expert.

Ten minutes and five rolls of duct tape later we had a suspicious looking blue car with too big tires, a cracked windshield, and a bumper sticker that said 'The village called, they want their idiot back'.

"It's perfect," Nudge said, looking with a proud expression at the little vehicle. And when I say little, I mean _little._ There was the normal two front seats, with a bench in the back. It had two seats with a little half seat in the middle. All of which were marred with many various sized cigarette burns.

"Eh," Max said, looking longingly at an admittedly nice silver truck to our left. "It'll do."

Nudge gasped, petting the car's hood and whispering to it. "It's okay. She doesn't mean it," she murmured, earning herself a few looks from the Flock. Oh well, we all have our quirks. For Iggy it's his cooking, Gazzy his bombs, Angel her dog, Max her Flock, and Me and my blog.

But still, it was weird.

"Wait," Max said as I was about to get in the front seat. I raised an eyebrow at her and she gesture towards the door. "The guard'll hear us. We need to get it away from here."

I nodded and we started pushing it toward the door, the car moving easily on it's new wheels. We moved it straight to the gate, which was thankfully on the opposite side of the hanger than the guard. Once we had moved it a few blocks down the road, Max and I let it roll to a stop. She went to the front and started working her magic under the hood. I slid into the front seat, being cautious of all the duct tape, and waited. Each time Max moved the wires against each other it made a little clicking noise. I counted at least ten before the engine fired.

Well would you look at that, we were finally having some good luck.

The engine backfired a few times, an ominous cloud of black smoke visible in the rearview mirror. But it soon evened out and I sighed in relief.

"Everyone in!" Max called, and the kids, who had been standing aside waiting anxiously, ran forward.

Just to stop again.

"Um, Max?" Gazzy said, looking at the back seat.

"Yeah?" she said, shutting the hood and wiping her hands on her jeans.

"There's not enough room," he said. She whipped her head around and looked in the side window, immediately seeing the problem. We had to fit six over sized bird kids and a talking dog into a car with only four and a half seats.

"Iggy in the left seat, Angel in his lap, Gazzy in the middle, and Nudge on the right. I'll ride shotgun with Total." They grumbled but did as she said anyways, all of them somehow squeezing into the back. As I was checking the mirrors before taking off I saw Iggy go deathly pale.

"What?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder. Max did the same.

"Um, well, not that I'm implying anything, but ..." he trailed off.

"Spit it out, Ig," Max pushed.

"Gazzy," he said, and no more of an explanation was needed. We all looked at the blue eyed gas bomb in question.

"What?" he asked defensively. "I'll be fine."

"It not you we're worried about," I muttered, earning a kick to the back of my seat. The seat slammed forward along the track and I got a gut full of steering wheel. The horn blared but I could still hear Gazzy snickering from the back seat.

I gritted my teeth and pushed the seat back, ignoring the extreme urge to strangle him.

"This is like a clown car," Total whined after only ten minutes of driving.

"Why does the dog get to sit in your lap?" Gazzy asked, and I saw him bounce as we hit another bump. "How about a kid?"

"Oh. 'The dog.' Very nice," Total muttered.

"Because," Max said with more patience than I could have managed, "you're not allowed to have people in your lap in the front seat. It's not safe. If a cop saw us, we'd be stopped for sure. You want Total back _there_?"

"No!" they all shouted in unison.

"The dog," Total mumbled, glaring at a spot on the floor.

"Shh," Max shushed him, rubbing his head.

"Are you saying you're _not_ a dog?" Gazzy asked. The lack of sleep and stress from the last few days was starting to set in on everyone. And my less then perfect driving wasn't helping anyone's nerves.

"Okay, you two," Max said sternly. "Enough! Everyone quiet, okay? We're looking for a place to sleep. Just chill."

I glanced at them in the rearview mirror, but only for a second since potholes seemed to be as common as trees around here. "Does anyone want to sing 'Ninety-nine Bottles of Bear on the Wall'?"

They all shouted no, making me smirk. I opened my mouth and took a deep breath, but just chuckled at all their horrified expressions.

About an hour later the kids had already fallen asleep, and I could tell Max and Iggy were trying hard not to do the same.

"There?" I asked, nodding to an old farm. The barn was over grown with plants and the trees around the area were packed tightly together, making it so the car wouldn't be seen from the road.

Max nodded and I pulled up the dirt driveway. I could here Iggy waking everybody up in the back seat, and they replied with mumbles and groans. We piled out, the kids instantly taking to the trees, and Ig and I helped Max push the Echo into some bushes. We made sure it wouldn't get caught on anything and that it wasn't visible from the road. I had second watch, so I got into a tree a few branches up from Max and we stacked fists. The night went by smoothly, with nothing happening and no Erasers attacking.

I knew something was wrong.

I guess it was just from being on the run so much, especially lately. I couldn't help but think that the whitecoats or School or Itex or whoever the hell we were fighting, was just holding back, so that when they did strike, it would be that much worse.

I pushed those thoughts away, though, the next morning as we climbed into the car. Everyone had gotten a good nights sleep and even the Gasman and Total were getting along. I wish the same could be said for Gazzy and Nudge's little jigsaw car.

"There aren't enough seat belts," Gazzy complained when we were only a half hour into the trip. We were all tense and keeping our eyes open for anything hiding in the trees along the road or a car that was going the same way as us for too long to be a coincidence. But nothing had happened yet, and that was just making me feel more and more uneasy.

"And God knows we live our lives totally paranoid about safety measures," Max said, not looking up from her map.

"I'm just saying." We started going up a hill, the gears grinding and making the whole car jump. "Yow!" Gazzy shouted, rubbing his head where it had hit the roof. "Fang!"

I mumbled an apology and refused to look at Max, knowing that there'd be a smug smile and a sarcastic comment waiting for me. But when none came I risked a glance at her and saw she was biting her lip, giving me an innocent look.

Okay, here are all the weird things that've happened so far:

1) No Erasers have attacked us in the last 24 hours.

2) Max wasn't getting revenge for when I bashed her driving skills (or lack thereof).

3) Gazzy hadn't farted. Not once.

If those aren't sure signs of the Apocalypse, then I don't know what is.

Max's innocent look turned questioning and I looked back at the road, concentrating on the hill we were about to go down.

"Yo, dogbreath," Max said. "Get your paws off the Everglades."

**(A/N: Warning: Unnecessary rant. Okay, the first time I ever read that line, I thought she was talking about _her_ Everglades, not _the_ Everglades. I think it would have been much funnier the other way, but then JP would have to explain why Total's paws were there in the first place. So anyway, rant over. You may continue reading.)**

Despite my efforts, the gears ground again and I heaved a frustrated sigh. When things were back in order I glanced at the map, seeing that we were still a ways from the headquarters. But soon (hopefully) we'd be able to stop asking questions and start getting some answers.

But like every adventure story, there is some dragon guarding the castle. (Dear God, did that sound as gay as I think it did?) We were rounding a corner and I saw a white car pull out of a driveway and start coming after us. At first I thought it was Erasers, but then I saw the flashing blue and red lights, and heard the loud siren.

"Crap," Max muttered, shoving the map back in her backpack and sitting up straighter in the car. I did the same, combing my longish bangs back with my fingers and trying to look older. Though I'm pretty sure it wasn't working.

"Should we bail?" I asked, realizing that we had a zero chance of lying our way out.

"Probably," Max said. She looked at the others in the back seat. "We'll stop, and as soon as it looks freaky, up and away, okay?"

Everyone nodded, undoing their seat belts and leaning towards the doors, ready to flee if Max gave the signal.

"I'm with Iggy," Total said, climbing into the backseat and joining Angel on Iggy's lap.

I pushed the button that I thought was the turn signal but ended up being the windshield wipers. Whatever, close enough. I turned the wheel a little to the right, gently applying the brake...

And lurched forward into an ungraceful parking job that could rival Max's.

We all looked out the back window to see a woman getting out of her car, a gun holstered on her hip. I shared a look with Max and she nodded. We unlocked our own car doors and got ready to run.

The woman made her way over to my window, her short brown hair pulled up into a neat bun and large black sunglasses covering most of her face.

"Good morning, sir," she said after I'd managed to roll down my window (it was one of those hand crank ones). "Do you know how fast you were going?" She didn't sound nice, but she didn't sound Eraser mean either. She just had a you-should-be-scared-of-me-_punk_ way about her.

I looked at the speedometer, which had been sitting on the 32 ever since we'd turned the engine on. "No," I said honestly, hoping that telling the truth would spare us just a tiny bit of trouble.

"I tagged you at seventy miles and hour," she said, pulling a thick white clipboard from her belt and consulting what looked like a ticket. _Oh, wonder. Just fricking _great.

Max whistled next to me and I rounded on her. She was grinning triumphantly at the dashboard. "Excellent!" she said. "I never thought it'd be that fast!"

I stared at her, my eyes wide and my jaw tight. Max called it my 'WTF' face. Which was very appropriate for the current situation. She slapped a hand over her mouth and gave me a look that said 'sorry'.

"Can I see your license, your registration, and your proof of insurance," the trooper asked, drawing my attention back to her. I gulped and leaned over Max, opening the glove compartment and pretended to look around. I met her eyes for a split second, but I could see the panic starting to rise to the surface.

"Hi," said Angel from the back seat, and I glanced at the woman over my shoulder. She had her head turned towards the backseat and her eyebrows came together, her frown becoming more pronounced. Oh crap, she must be noticing how young we are. I stopped my fake search and straightened up, trying to block her view of the kids. She looked back at me and saw I was just as young as the others.

"Are you from here?" Angel asked, her feet swinging back and forth and her head tilted to the side, big blue eyes shining with an innocence that she _so_ didn't have. "Florida is really flat, huh?"

The cop looked at her again, but only for a second. She whipped off her sunglasses and pierced me with her cold, gray eyes. "Can you step out of the car, please, sir?" It was a question, but she said it like a demand.

"It sure is warm here, for fall," Angel was saying, and I could see in the mirror that she was staring intently at the woman. I know, I shouldn't approve of mind-control, but I think this was one of those situations where you have to drown your morals and deal with it. "You could practically go swimming."

Angel threw in a laugh that caught even my attention. Me and the cop both looked at her, but I looked away immediately. She just looked so ... well, not _creepy. _But scary. Definitely scary.

I glanced at the woman's face and saw she had a confused look in her eyes, her head half turned towards me, but her eyes still locked with Angel's.

"We're kind of in a hurry," Angel said, sounding just like every little kid to be a horror movie sounded.

"You're in a hurry," the cop repeated, her eyes blank. Her voice was a monotone, almost robotic.

"Maybe you could just let us go," Angel continued. "There's a problem somewhere else, and you need to get there now."

She looked back at the cruiser, and then at Angel again. "I have to go. There's a problem."

"All right. Thanks," Angel said. The trooper straightened up and walked stiffly to her patrol car. She got in, started the engine and pulled away, disappearing around the next corner.

Leaving us in complete silence.

"Um ... I think I speak for everyone when I say that was majorly creepy," Gazzy said. "No offense," he added quickly.

She beamed at him, clicking her heals together happily. "None taken," she said. There was another awkward silence and I took my foot off the brake (I couldn't turn it off or else we'd have to hot wire it again). I pulled us off the shoulder and we continued down the road, Max looking back at the map and pointing one way or another, but never saying anything.

Eventually, Angel spoke.

"I don't know, guys," she said, sounding way older than six. "I really think maybe I should be leader."

I was so startled by what she'd said that I slammed on the breaks and gas at the same time, mumbling something about the gears grinding. No one seemed to notice though, because all eyes were on Angel.

"I'll be second-in-command," Total said, hopping into the spot between me and Max. If a dog can give you an evil grin, then that's what he was giving me right then. Yeah, that'll be the day; when I lose my job to a _dog_.

"Oh yeah, you'd be so focused on the job," Gazzy said, rolling his eyes. "Until a _rabbit_ ran across your path."

"Hey!" Total shouted, sending Gazzy a glare.

"Guys," Max said, rubbing her temples. "Listen, Ange, it's sweet of you to offer, but I've got the whole leader thing down, okay?" _And I'm an awesome second-in-command ... I think._ "You don't have to worry about it."

"Well, I guess," she said, and I could hear the frown in her voice. She sounded hesitant, like she didn't believe Max.

Okay, something seriously weird was going on here.

I pushed to the back of my brain though, trying to concentrate on the road. I was just starting to realize all the stuff I was trying to ignore, that I had 'pushed aside' and was saving for a later date. And I can tell you, when that day came, it was going to be hell.

But we kept going, still about two and a half hours away. We stopped for lunch at a Jack in the Box, adding another half hour to our time. So it was already around 4:30 in the afternoon when we got there. It hadn't been nearly as hard to locate as I thought it would. There had been tons on signs saying "Itex - Exit 398" or "Itex - next right". Though even with all the signs and the map and relative protection of the car, I would have preferred flying. It just made everything so much easier, and it didn't take nearly as long. And i could tell Max wouldn't be able to hold back all her sarcastic remarks forever.

But like I said, around 4:30 we pulled in front of the huge metal gates of Itex headquarters. It didn't look threatening or dangerous, just big. The sides were almost completely glass and we could people moving around inside great big offices and conference rooms.

There wasn't a single whitecoat or Eraser in sight.

"Well," I said, peering through the window at the fight fence that surrounded the building. For a place that was supposed to blow up the world, it's security measures seemed pretty mediocre. I couldn't see a sing guard dog or warning saying that the fence was electric (which didn't mean it wasn't).

"No barbed wire," I commented, noticing the absence of the spiky coils of wire that hat topped off the gates at the School. (Hell, there'd been barbed wire on the gates of the school back with Anne.)

"No armed guards," Nudge said, leaning forward so her head was in the gap between mine and Max's seats. "That little guard house is cute, though."

I had the extreme urge to say a cliche, _It's quiet ... _too_ quiet_ .... But I didn't get chance to because a guy came out of the guard house, wearing a genuine smile and no visible weapons.

"Are you here for the tour?" he asked, leaning down to look in my window and smiling at the kids in the back.

"Um, yes," I said, oh so smoothly. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel and propping my foot above the gas pedal, reading to speed out of there at a moment's notice.

"I'm sorry — the last tour was at four," he said, giving us an a apologetic look. "But come back tomorrow — the tours are every hour on the hour, and they leave from the main lobby." He pointed to a building almost directly in front of the gate, where I could see a large group of people following a woman in a blue uniform around. Must be one of the tour groups ....

"Uh, okay," I said, putting the car in reverse and trying to look like I knew what I was doing. "Thanks."

I pulled carefully away, putting it back into Drive and doing a (surprisingly graceful) u-turn back onto the road. I watched the guard in the side mirror as we drove away. He didn't once run towards the the building or start saying stuff into his walkie-talkie. He just stood, there until we were forced to turn a corner and he disappeared.

"Where to now?" Iggy asked after a few miles of driving in silence. I had expected Max to have announced a plan by now, but she was surprisingly quiet, just looking out the window thoughtfully. And it wasn't an I'm-talking-to-the-Voice kind of silence, but a ... _normal_ silence.

Is it bad when you consider a normal silence a strange occurrence?

"I was thinking a hotel," Max said, not taking her eyes off the trees rushing past.

"Really?" Nudge's head popped up in surprise. "Like, with a bed and running water?"

Max gave a small smile. "Yes, Nudge. Like with beds and running water."

"Mmm, that sounds good just thinking about it," Gazzy said, sounding happier than he had the whole time we'd been in the car.

"Where?" I asked, looking around for any vacancy signs.

"There's one just up the road," she said, pointing to a spot on the map. "The 'Twilight Inn'."

I nodded, driving the last few blocks before the old sign for the motel came into view. It was small and poor looking. But the doors were wide apart, suggesting good sized rooms. And the lobby that was visible through the front doors didn't seem too shabby.

I pulled into the driveway.

We all piled out, Max taking the wires apart under the hood and then leading us all inside. She looked the other way when Angel got us a room, one of the bigger ones too. When we got upstairs we saw that it had two double beds, a TV, and a bathroom with a shower.

Iggy set to work putting food away, and Max started rounding everyone's clothes together so she could take it down to the laundry room. When she left I started sending the kids into the bathroom, giving them some shampoo and body wash so they could take a shower. When it was my turn I relished in the feeling of the warm water pounding down on my shoulders, relieving some of the tension there. When I was done I got dressed and walked into the room just as Max came in the door.

"Hey," she said.

I nodded, taking the basket of laundry from her arms.

"Why thank you, sir," she said, pretending to curtsy and I rolled my eyes, setting the basket back down at her feet and walking away. "Hey!" she called, but I just smirked and joined the kids in watching TV.

Another half hour later and Iggy was the last one going in, the rest of us lounging on the beds with our wings extended, letting them dry. Max came over to the bed I was laying on and dumped a pile of laundry onto it. She shoved half of it towards me, covering my legs with jeans and t-shirts.

"So," I said, pitching my voice so the kids couldn't hear us over the TV, "Itex."

"Yep. Guess who made the laundry detergent? Guess what gas station we stopped at? Guess who made the soda you're drinking?" I looked down at the can I was bringing up to my lips. Sure enough there was the silver and blue Itex logo. I set it back down on the table. I wasn't very thirsty anymore. God, this thing was _everywhere_.

I held up the pair of Gazzy's jeans I'd been folding and showed her the label. Itex.

"This is bad," she said quietly. Total shouted something at the TV, and i glanced over at where he was sitting in Angel's lap. Angel, who was possibly planning to take over the flock (and from there, the world...). Me and Max just watched her and the kids for a few minutes, until Max found something else to say.

"They're everywhere, all right," she said, putting a pile of ... girl things into her bag. I had decided to leave those things to her. Not that I was afraid of them or anything, no way, I'd never even gone through the whole cootie stage. It was just the shape. It was confusing, whereas guy clothes only have to be folded twice, and then you're done. But girl clothes are confusing, much like girls themselves.

"What's worse it, the more I think about it, the more I remember them being everywhere our whole lives," Max continued. "I remember Angel drinking Itex formula from an Itex bottle, and wearing Itex diapers. It's like they've been taking over the world without anyone noticing yet."

"Someone noticed it," I said, talking slowly so I could get my thoughts in order. "Someone at the School noticed it at least fourteen years ago. And built you to try and stop them."

She sighed, running a rand through her still damp hair, seeming frustrated. Was it because I said built? It was a weird way to describe how someone came to be, but it was the truth. Which lead me to believe that Max was tired of the idea as a whole. Of being created to stop something she didn't even understand. I could totally feel for her on that.

"Built _us_," she said confidently, picking up Angel's backpack and shoving some shirts into it.

"Mostly you. I'm pretty sure the rest of us are redundant." I didn't sound bitter when I said it. Which surprised me. And I could tell that Max was bothered by it by the way she was frowning and shoving Iggy's clothes into his bag with a _little_ too much force.

"You're not redundant to _me,_" she said, and even though I knew she meant the Flock as a whole, I couldn't keep back the childish rush of pleasure you feel when someone praises you or says you're important. Yeah, I know, stupid. But it was a rare occurrence when Max admitted that she cared.

I returned this rare act with one of my own. I flashed her a quick smile and her face softened, an interesting reaction I'd picked up on lately. I wonder if I could use it to get me out of trouble? Unlikely, but worth a try the next time I get on Max's bad side. (Which was pretty much always, she just forgets eventually, and then notices I'm still there.)

We packed it in earlier, the kids having already fallen asleep on the comfy bed. Max and I tucked Nudge and Angel in, neither of them waking up as we pulled the covers up to their chins. Gazzy opened his eyes lazily as I plopped him on the second bed. We stacked fists and he fell back to sleep next to an already dozing Iggy.

"I'll take the floor," Max said before I could offer her the couch. She spread out an extra comforter that was in a drawer beneath the TV and laid on top of it, pulling a blanket over her shoulders. I crouched down next to her and held out my fist. She did the same and we tapped the back of each others hands.

I went to the couch and laid down, my feet hanging off the other armrest. Closing my eyes, I tried to get some sleep, my wings extended behind me, some of the feathers still wet from my shower.

I didn't go to sleep right away, but when I did it was light and alert. But sometime in the night I felt something on my face and tried to wake up. But I just found myself moving in the other direction, away from my state of semi-awareness and into a deeper, more intense form of sleep.

Unconsciousness.

* * *

**Oh my Emmett. I am so sorry I haven't updated sooner. I was going to yesterday but I was having some serious writers block, and then today I had to deal with an annoying amount of drama and talk to Leah about plans for her redheaded ninja children (Lissa bases Leah, we'll call her Leah M.). Unfortunately that plan is on hold, but we have sworn that we _will_ find a redheaded ninja. Someday ... someday ....**

**Iggy II: Earth to Sam, you're getting off topic. And you _still_ haven't told them about my present.**

**Me: Ah, yes. You see, we've reached 600 reviews, which is 300 less than 900. Which is a perfect square with a root of 30. So 30 squared is 900, minus 300, is 600, which is our amount of reviews. So I started thinking, "Iggy II is technically Iggy squared, like 30 squared. So why not give him a present on this fine day?" And that present is ...**

**Max II: -bursts through door- Me!**

**Iggy II: -gasp- Max! -slow motion run through a field of forward towards Max II-**

**Both: -goo goo eyes-**

**Me: Hm. Looks like I've lost my secretary. Oh well, I can always hire back the original.**

**Jammies: -nods solemnly- (Can a teddy bare nod solemnly?)**

**Review please! Or Mr. Scary will get you (Mr. Scary: D:)  
**


	79. Chapter 79 :D

**Max II: Would you like some more, Iggy-bear?**

**Iggy II: Yes please, Maxie-poo.**

**Me: Oh gag.**

**Max II: -ignores- -hand feeds Iggy II gapes-**

**Me: They've been like this all day. And Iggy hasn't gotten _any_ of my filing done. I'm mean come on dude! Pwns before clones!**

**Iggy II: What?**

**Me: -sigh- I _pwn_ you, therefore I am more important then the _clone_. -points to Max II-**

**Iggy II: You know, I'm a clone too.**

**Me: No, you're my OC, you have a completely different set of rules. The first of which, is it that Author is always right. And don't deny it. You'll just be wrong. Because ...  
**

**Iggy II: -sigh- ... you're the author.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. And I almost wish I didn't own Iggy II. _Almost.

* * *

_**

**Fang POV (122-132)**

I didn't dream, which wasn't unusual. What was, however, is that I remembered being unconscious. Like, my body was asleep, but my mind was wide awake. Usually I just go to bed, wake up, and don't remember a thing. But not this time. I remembered thinking about how bored I was and wondering if I should get up and take watch. But whenever I tried to open my eyes my mind would start to wonder. Which normally would have set off major alarms in my brain, had it not been for the fact that as my mind wondered away from consciousness, it also strayed from caution.

Panic, however, stayed right at my side.

It was weird. Panicking without actually caring about what was happening. I guess it was like, I knew I should be feeling something, but I just couldn't. Either way, I knew something bad was going on. But my mind was too muddled and my thoughts too slurred to even begin to asses the situation.

But eventually, thankfully, I woke up. My eyes opened immediately, and I kept them open even when they protested against the glaring light. When my eyes were adjusted I looked around, counting heads. Everyone was there, Iggy and Gazzy on one bed, Angel and Nudge on the other, Total curled up between them, and Max ...

I stared at Max a moment, trying to place the odd feeling I was getting by looking at her. She looked ... different. I thought it was just the lighting at first, but knew it was something more than that, something more subtle.

Then I had it.

She looked relaxed.

I sat up, propping myself against my elbows and looking at her again. Her jaw was slack, though it was usually tight, and her normally clenched fists were being used to pull the blankets around her shoulder, her back to the window. It was a vulnerable position, because you couldn't see someone coming into the room right away, and there was the possibility of getting tangled in the sheet. It was a bad idea, a mistake.

One that I knew Max wouldn't make, not even in her sleep.

"Mmmmhmm," she mumbled, rolling onto her back, another thing Max never did. Not just because it was harder to get up like that, but because it was uncomfortable. Having your wings jammed up like that against your back could lead to some real problems. But there she was, sleeping like a baby. A little weird, and very worrisome.

"Fang?" a sleepy voice called my attention away from Max. I looked at the far bed and saw Gazzy sitting up, rubbing his eyes. His pajama shirt was twisted around and his short blond hair stuck up like a duck's feathers in the back.

I raised an eyebrow.

"What time is it?" he asked, looking around at the still sleeping flock.

"Uh," I glanced at my watch and blinked in surprised. 8 am. That was ... three hours longer than we usually slept. And even when someone didn't wake us up, we never slept in. We'd just get up on instinct.

"Eight," I said.

"Nuh-uh," he said disbelievingly.

"Yep," I said, turning the watch face towards him. He glanced at it, frowned, and then shook his head.

"Weird," he said, shaking Iggy's shoulder. I stood up to do the same with the girls, but instantly sat back down. A sudden head rush had left a heavy pounding behind my eyes. I closed them and rubbed my temple.

"You okay, man?" Iggy asked sleepily, having heard me fall back on the couch.

"Yeah," I mumbled, getting up again and ignoring the throbbing in my head. "Headache."

"Ugh, same here," he said, carefully climbing out of bed, a hand pressed to his temple. "I feel like I got hit with a sledgehammer."

"Me too." I turned to see Angel looking at us, her eyes half lidded and obvious sleepiness in her eyes.

"Go back to bed, Ange," I said softly.

**No,** she sent to me sleepily. **I'm not tired. Just ... I don't know. I just feel weird.  
**

I nodded, not wanting to make the leap that the paranoid part of me (the larger part) wanted so desperately for me to make.

Headache + being tired without _being tired_ = worn off drugs.

But that was impossible, how could we get drugged? And if someone had managed to do that, then why would they leave us here?

"Fang, no offense, but can you stop thinking? It's giving me a headache. Or a worst one at least." I nodded to Angel and then went over to her bed, tucking the covers in around her more and handing her the remote to the TV. I then shook Nudge's shoulder, only getting a little groan in reply.

"Nudge," I said, shaking her once more. She swung out her arm, missing my nose by inches, and let it flop limply in Angel's lap. She giggled and leaned over to whisper something in Nudge's ear. The older girl shot up, eyes wide. She closed them again against the light.

"Mmm," she moaned. "Where my chocoleh cay?"

"You're what?" Gazzy asked.

"Sorry, Nudge," Angel said, smiling sweetly. "We already ate the cake, sorry."

Nudge looked heartbroken, but at least she was awake. I got up and started walking around, stretching my sore muscles.

"Hey, where's Max?" Iggy asked after a few minutes of the TV being to only noise in the suite.

"Hm?" I walked out of the bathroom where I had been stashing mini soaps and shampoo bottles into our packs. I did a quick sweep of the room and spotted Max on the floor, still sleeping. "Sleeping?" My confusion made it come out like a question.

"I'll get her up," Total said, as me and Iggy looked at Max with concerned looks. This wasn't like her...

Total hopped up onto her chest, putting her head right in her face and licking her all the way from the tip of her nose to her hairline.

She squirmed.

"Hmm," he murmured, as the rest of us watched. "Usually I'd be lying half way across the room by now..." He went down by her feet and started licking the part of her leg that stuck out from under the covers. She squirmed some more and scrunched up her face. After a few more seconds she woke with a startled "Wagh!" I smirked and went back into the bathroom, shoving some of the towels in Iggy's pack.

"I'm hungry," I heard Gazzy say as I walked back out.

"Right," Max said, standing up with a determined look on her face, like she was about to achieve something great by just hauling her butt off the floor. She looked around at all of us, almost staring. I glanced at each of us, and we all seemed the same. Though Max seemed oddly different. Like all her little quirks I'd become so attuned to had just disappeared.

"So, breakfast," she said, looking around at each of us. Her eyes landed on Total. "Does the, uh, dog need to go out?"

"We already went out," Angel said, giving Max a strange look.

**Something's wrong,** she sent to me.

_How so? _I asked back.

**I can't hear her thoughts. Only little snippets, but those are ... weird. Not _her._** I whipped around to look at Max, who was giving Angel and obviously fake smile (or at least to me it was obvious).

Then she did something that _really_ freaked me out.

She went to the kitchenette. And got out a frying. As in, she was getting ready to _cook_. "Okay, how about eggs?" she asked as she rummaged around in the minifridge.

"You're going to cook?" I couldn't help but ask. She looked over at me and the usual connection wasn't there. I could still read her expression, just not like before (i.e. anytime prior to this morning).

"Aren't you hungry?" she asked.

"Not _that_ hungry," the Gasman muttered, looking wearily at the eggs in Max's hand.

"I'll do it," Iggy said, standing up and moving towards the kitchenette. "Gaz, you pour juice. Nudge, get out the paper plates."

Max looked at him in shock. "But you're blind," she said, genuinely confused.

"You're kidding! I am?" Iggy said sarcastically, brushing past her and taking over the stove. "Who wants scrambled?" he asked, ignoring Max's strange behavior.

"Me," Nudge called out, digging some plates out of a pack and setting them on the small table.

Max stood there for a moment, looking lost. Then she got that determined expression and went over to a backpack and started pawing through it's contents. "Nudge?" she glanced over her shoulder. "Come over here and I'll fix your hair. We could do, like, ponytails or something, get it out of your eyes."

Nudge looked at her incredulously, same with the rest of us. "You want to fix my hair?" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah," Max said, puzzled by her confused tone. Her eyes found Total's, who was laying on the bed. "Oh, and hey — you — off the bed," she said, snapping her fingers at him. Total just looked at her.

In fact, we _all _just looked at her.

"Why can't he sit on the bed?" Angel asked. The usual adoration that colored her voice when she talked to Max was gone, replaced by suspicion.

"Because I said so," Max said, running the brush through Nudge's hair. She sent me a 'help me' look, and I held up one finger. The room was silent for a minute or two until Max looked up and gave us all an oblivious look. "What?" she asked.

I shook my head, but she didn't seem to notice. "Nothing," I said, pushing off from the wall I was leaning on and helping Iggy set the table. We had breakfast in relative silence, Max acting strange the whole time. She never called Total by name, and she kept saying un-Max-like things. I hated to say it, but she almost sounded stuck up. Like she was doing a bad imitation of herself. (And Iggy had done enough of those for me to know what one looks like.)

"So I was thinking," she said to us as she cleared the table. We all looked at her expectantly. "We should go on the tour of Itex today, get a feel for the place, and then sneak in there tonight. They probably won't expect us to strike so quickly after arriving."

"Well that shouldn't matter. It's not like they know we're here," Iggy said, and Max's shoulders tensed. But only for a second. She soon cleared her expression and relaxed, shrugging casually.

"Still, tonight." We all nodded, though Angel seemed hesitant, and I wondered if this had anything to do with her wanting to be leader of the Flock. I ignored the tension between them though.

As we all sat down to watch TV I saw Max staring at me from the corner of her eye, so I turned and gave her a questioning look. "Um..." she said. "Hey?"

Um, okay. "Hey," I said back. "You okay?"

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" I glanced pointedly towards the kitchen, but she didn't get it. She just looked around behind herself and then turned back to me. "What?" she asked. I shook my head, thinking that maybe Max was feeling weird like the rest of us had this morning. Just, her symptoms were lasting longer or something. Yeah, that's it.

"Alright," I said once everyone was dressed and ready to go. "Let's go."

"Wait!" I looked over my shoulder at Max, she was biting her lip like she always did when she was thinking something over. "Uh, I was thinking we could go to the 1 o' clock tour. You know, 'cause, uh, it's later in the day, and there'll be less people."

I nodded and sat back down on the bed, then noticed her giving me an annoyed look. My guess would be it was because of my lack of repsonce, and I'm usually right about these things. So I just smirked, making her annoyed expression grow deeper.

We spent the next hour or so making plans. Max already had pretty good idea of how we'd get in, where we'd go, and what we'd do once we were there. _Damn, _I thought. _She should sleep in more often_.

"So is everyone clear on the plan?" she asked, sounding more like her normal self than she had this morning. She hadn't had any random urges to groom someone (at least as far as I could tell) and she hadn't passed within five feet of the kitchen except to go out the door or to the bathroom.

She got a chorus of 'yeps' and 'yeahs' and a nod (guess who?).

"Okay, we should get going then. We have," she glanced at her watch, "an hour to get there, regroup, go over the plan, and meet up with the tour group."

Another round of 'yes's and a nod later, and we were out the door. Well, almost. Max was tying (and failing) to shut the door before Total could get out. Nudge stuck her foot between the door and the wall, making it so Max couldn't shut it. Max looked at her with a confused look.

"The dog's coming on a raid?" she asked.

Nudge looked at her in surprise. "Of course he's coming. He always comes."

Max just stood there for a second, then shook her head and continued down the hall, the rest of us running to keep up.

"Max?" I heard Angel say as we left the building. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Why?" Max's usual affection and softened expression was gone from her face. In it's place was an almost fake look of interest.

"Your —" I shook my head at her. I don't know why, I just didn't want Max to know about Angel not being able to read her mind.

"My what?" Max asked when she didn't continue.

"Your eyes, they're sorta red. And you look tired," she improvised. I saw Max's shoulders relax a fraction of an inch. _Hm, strange_.

"I'm fine," she said, jumping a little when Angel took her hand. But then she smiled and turned her face forward again before I could read her expression.

I'll save you the boring details of the ride there. I didn't think it was smart to take the Echo, in case the guard had known it was us the day before and was keeping an eye out for us. So instead we got a cab, which Max seemed fine with. I guess she still felt weary of being back in the air while we were so close to Itex.

Entering the building was easy, we just had to pay a small admittance fee and then we were in. We went through conference rooms and down hallways, learning about all the great multimillion dollar contracts had been signed here and how many companies had been merged together in these very rooms.

It was so boring I almost died.

By the end of it I had heard too many business names to remember, and each little gold plaque started to look the same as the one before it. It was like the time we took the tour of the white house. Though now Max wasn't glaring daggers at my sorta (now ex) girlfriend, Angel wasn't trying to play puppet master with the leader of the free world, and this place seemed to actually have some money (oh, burn).

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming this evening," said our well dressed guide. She seemed genuinely nice, which was weird for employees of a place that was supposed to blow up the world. "I hope you all enjoyed the tour and learning about where most necessities in the modern world come from."

It's sad how necessities is apparently defined as designer jeans, tofu patties, and stainless steal golf clubs. All of which we'd seen going down never ending assembly lines just a few minutes earlier.

As we were going through the last few hallways I saw Max looking around thoughtfully, pointing out which hallways didn't have security cameras and some rooms with windows without chicken wire.

"...but I still think we should take the air ducts," she was saying after we left the building. We'd walked around back and were waiting in the bushes. We were waiting for it to get dark before we tried getting in.

"Oh! I can't wait!" Nudge said, bouncing a bit on her branch. "Maybe we'll finally find something on our parents. I mean, better than we had the last time. All those coded sheets were too confusing."

Max nodded, and Angel gave her a puzzled look.

_What?_ I asked in my head.

**She ... never mind.**

_No, what?_ I pushed.

**Her thoughts are weird. I'm starting to get past whatever wall she has up. But it's still there.**

_What's she thinking?_

**It's what she's _not_ thinking that's weird. I don't think she remembers the papers.**

Well that _was_ strange. But my guess was Max was just too busy worrying about what we were about to do and didn't have time to think of the papers. Plus, Angel had even said she couldn't fully read Max's mind. So she _could_ remember them, Angel just can't tell.

There was a soft beeping noise and I glanced at my watch. 8:00 on the dot. Looking at the sky through the branches of our tree I could see little orbs of white hanging above us. The sun had set and the sky was a blanket of black, swallowing up everything except for those little specks of light.

"Is it time?" Max asked, and I met her eyes. Any other time she would have read the answer on my face (though I'd try hard to keep it blank), but not today. She just looked at me expectantly. "Is it time to go in?" she asked again, and I nodded. She scowled at my lack of reaction and that made me feel better. (I know that sounds sort of cruel, her annoyance making me happy, but I'm sure it's the same way for her.)

We jumped out of the tree and started moving towards the back of the building. "Hurry up," Nudge said to Total, who had stopped to sniff a bush. I caught Max's look of disgust and thought that was a little harsh. She saw me looking though and put on a neutral face.

"In here," she whispered, holding some bushes aside and ushering us through. She did a quick sweep of the area and then lead us across the large hill, stopping when we came to a metal box on the side of the building. HVAC was stenciled in big black lettering across the front. Iggy easily took the cover off (Max gave him the same bewildered look she had when he was cooking) and just inside the little alcove was a large fan, spinning quickly and making our hair fly straight backwards.

"How do we get in?" Gazzy whispered. Max looked around again, though it was a little to quickly to notice if anyone was actually there. She picked up a thick branch and weighed it in her hands. I watched her with curiosity when she suddenly thrust the stick into the path of the spinning fan. It got jammed between a blade and a metal support, making the wind tunnel effect come to a sudden end. Angel and Total crawled in first, then Iggy and Nudge, and finally me with Max taking up the rear. She yanked the stick out and set it lightly on the floor of the vent.

"That was a good idea," I said, impressed.

She shrugged in that modest way she has and started leading us through the surprisingly large vents. We could stand up for the most part, though me, Iggy, and Max were in a bit of a crouch. Every once in awhile Max would stop and put a finger to her lips. I listened closely, but I'd never hear anything. Not even Iggy did, and he has like super-human hearing. Well, more super-human than we already did.

We came to a part of the vents that had a bunch of different ways to go, but after only a few moments of hesitation Max lead us down a tunnel on our left. After a few more twists and turns we stopped over a metal grate, easily pulling it out of the metal floor and propping it against the wall. We waited a few minutes for someone to start shooting, but nothing happened. And after losing at rock paper scissors and having to stick my head into the room, I deemed it safe and we dropped in one at a time.

"Okay, go over there," Max said, pointing to a dark corner. "No one'll be able to you."

Gazzy, Nudge, and Iggy went over without argument, but Angel stayed, looking at Max with narrowed eyes. I took her hand though and lead her to where the others were waiting silently.

_What's wrong with you?_ I thought to her.

**That's not Max,** she sent back. Now, looking back on this, I realize that I was an idiot for my following actions. But then and there I thought Angel was being poetic with her word choice, and read too far into what she was saying.

_Relax Ange, _I said. _She's probably just stressed. When this is over she'll be back to her normal self_.

Angel gaped at me, opening her mouth to say something, but Max came over then and gestured for Nudge to follow. Mine and Max's eyes met, and she smiled at me, then turned and walked with Nudge over to the computers.

"Huh," Angel said, watching the two walk away. "Never mind I guess."

**(A/N: For those who don't get that part, let me explain. MAX II LIKES FANG. So Angel mistook her swoony thoughts on Fang for the real Max's. Just thought I'd explain that. Max II: And I don't _really_ like Fang. I like by Iggy-bears. EVERYONE ON EARTH: -gag-)**

Me and the others just sat against the wall as we waited for Max an Nudge to find something. I saw Nudge pump a fist in the air, grinning triumphantly at the screen. I was guessing she'd hacked the system. But they stayed over there, and we sat here.

It was immensely boring.

I sighed, standing up. "Gaz, Ig," I whispered. "Just to be safe, go set something up to get us out of here. In case the vents aren't an option." They both grinned and I suppressed a groan. That was probably a _really_ stupid idea.

"What're you gonna do?" Angel asked.

"Guard the door." She nodded looking at her lap and playing with the hem of her shirt. "Wanna help?" I asked. She beamed, jumping up and moving to sit to the left of the doorway. She closed her eyes and leaned back, probably concentrating on what was going on outside the room. I went and stood a few feet away, getting ready to attack anything that might come through.

I saw sparks out of the corner of my eye and glanced over to see Iggy and Gazzy messing with the wires of a computer. Their faces lit up with orange light whenever they moved the exposed copper together, and I could see how big they were grinning.

There was silence for a while, until Angel's eyes popped open and I tensed, expecting to hear footsteps coming towards the door. But nothing of the sort happened, she just stared at Max who smiled back. A few moments later Nudge started talking excitedly. "Max, Max, look at this," she whispered loudly. "Oh, my gosh. Max — can you believe this? Fang?"

I pushed off from the wall and started walking towards them.

**Fang, no, wait, **Angel's voice pleaded in my head. I saw her start to stand put I shook my head.

_No Ange, stay there. I need you to keep guard while I check this out_. I made my way over to the computer and read over Nudge's shoulder. There were a few pictures of a baby girl wearing an ID bracelet that said 'Monique' in the name spot. The baby looked just like Nudge had when she was little. As she scrolled farther down she stopped at a scanned image of a medical form. I skimmed over it, my eyes finally landing on the familiar swirling signature at the bottom.

_Dr. Jebediah Batcheldor_

My eyes narrowed and I felt anger bubble in my stomach. This paper, these files, connected Jeb to Nudge before she was even at the School. She wasn't some planned creation, made specifically for being a bird kid. She was someones daughter first, _then_ an experiment. Nudge clicked on a link and another window popped up. It started playing a blurry video of a black couple crying. The woman looked at the camera and I was shocked at how much her eye's looked like Nudge's. Big, brown, and expressive. The man — her husband I think — had his arm wrapped around her and was looking on with a pained expression.

"My baby!" the woman wailed, the speakers on the computer making it sound like she was there with us. "Who would take my baby? Her name was Monique! If anyone knows where my baby is, please, _please_ bring her back. She's my world!" The woman started sobbing into the mans shirt and the video ended. Nudge had tear streaks going down her cheeks, and I noticed how much she resembled the crying woman in the video.

"I—" I stopped myself, not really having anything to say. I settled for just putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me with sad eyes and I squeezed her shoulder, not sure of what else to do.

"That doesn't make sense," Max murmured. "We saw the medical consent form a few pages back."

Nudge went back a few pages, sniffling and wiping tears from her eyes. She stopped at another photocopied paper, this one saying that her parents gave "Roland ter Botch" permission to "treat" their daughter. I compared the signatures and realized that they looked a lot like Jeb's.

_That bastard_.

Nudge, still crying, went down some more on the page until another picture of the woman came into view. She looked sad and old, though the picture was dated only a month or so after the video was taken. "Terminated" was stamped in large red letters across the middle of it.

Nudge broke down crying, and I turned her chair so she was facing me. I wrapped my arms around her shaking shoulders, letting her cry into my shirt. I glanced up at Max to see her staring with interest and curiosity at the screen. Not a shred of sympathy or sadness entered her normally motherly expression. She didn't even seem to care when Nudge started sobbing, just looked at the screen, then her watch.

Before I could shake her and ask what the hell was wrong with her Iggy's head popped out from under counter, saying the last thing I needed to hear right then.

"Someone's coming."

I stood up, pulling Nudge with me, and took a few cautious steps towards the door. As I waited for the door to fly open and for the room to be swarmed with Erasers, I knew two things for sure.

1) This wasn't Max. Which leads into thing number 2:

We're screwed.

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**I. WANT. TO. WRITE. MORE.**

**But I can't. Because I know you want me to, and I'm feeling evil this evening.**

**I blame the two McFlurries I just downed.**

**Anywho, review and I'll try to get the next chapter in by tomorrow. But I'm not going to update this until I finish Chapter 3 of _Over_ and do my homework. (My mom's rule, not mine.) I _also_ have ideas for two new one-shots. Both of which are as random and stupid as the last two I made.**

**But back to _this_ story. I hope you guys liked this chapter. I can't wait to do the next one in Fang's POV. I know that'll be fun.**

**But first.  
**

**Orange ... you glad I didn't say review?  
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	80. Memories

**Okay, now _those_ are what I call reviews! Praise, complaints, threats, that's what really motivates us writers. Now, for anyone who was confused by the whole 'Fang didn't know it wasn't Max and yet he says he did later' thing, please do the following:**

**1) Imagine your best friend.**

**2) Imagine someone coming up to you with no tangible evidence and saying that your friend has been replaced by a clone who's soul purpose is to kill you.**

**3) Answer this question: Do you believe them?**

**4) If no: then you now understand Fang's thinking. If yes: then you're a freaking liar and/or have no trust in your best friend.**

**And why on Earth would Mr. Macho I Know Everything Fang admit to Max that he didn't know something that should be _so_ blatantly obvious? No way dudes, he's too proud. So anywho, there you go. My logic.  
**

**Also, Iggy II and _her_ have run off to ... somewhere. I don't know where because the battery in my Iggy Tracker 2.0 died, so I'm waiting for it to charge. But while I do that, you can enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I'm thinking about renaming this: _81 Ways To Say You Don't Own Maximum Ride._  


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**Fang POV (134 - 141)**

The door slammed open, bouncing off the wall and swinging shut again. Unfortunately the person who came through did not get a door to the face. (Which would have been real nice after all the shit that'd happened so far today.)

Ari stood there, grinning evilly at us, still only half morphed. He bared his teeth and roared at Iggy who was standing closest. He heard him and jumped skilfully over a counter, creating a barrier between him and Ari.

"Scatter!" I shouted, lunging for Dog Boy before he had the chance to do so to anyone else. We tumbled to the ground with me holding his arms down with my knees. I pulled my arm back to punch him in the gut but he curled his fist around my ankle, digging his sharp claws through the denim and into flesh.

Before I had a chance to regain my composure he bucked me off and stood, hauling me to my feet by my throat.

"Hey, Fangy," he said, his rancid breath hitting me in an almost visible cloud. "You've been taking care of my Maxie, right?"

I growled and punched him, but his grip on my neck only tightened and I started clawing at his hand. As I did that he spit blood onto the ground, then turned back and bared his teeth. He slammed me against the wall, my skull hitting the plaster with a loud _crack!_

He opened his mouth to say something, but just then Gazzy shouted, "Spiders!" making both of us look in his direction. A wave of black and brown was moving towards him, hundreds of tiny bugs climbing over each other to get to him. He stood there with a look of horror on his face. I knew he hated spiders. Ever since we were at the School and they used to put him in tanks with them, seeing how long he could stand it. I just didn't know how Itex knew, or how they'd gotten so many.

Ari grinned again and I kicked him in the stomach, but he only slightly winced, his smile still there. "Well, if you'll excuse me, me and Max have a play date." He pulled his arm forward, taking me with it, and slammed me one last time into the wall. He jumped back so I couldn't make a grab at him, but I had just fallen to the ground, my head spinning and miniature explosions going off behind my eyes.

"Here!" I heard Max yell and my vision focused in on her. I momentarily forgot that she wasn't fighting on our side and felt a wave of horror as she held Angel's arms out to Ari, who in turn took a chunk out of her arm. A memory flashed before my still distorted vision.

_...."Fang—," she seemed to get choked up on my name a bit. I could tell it was hard for her to admit whatever it was she was saying. "if I'm changing, if I'm turning into something... bad— will you deal with it?"_

_What was she talking about? She could never be something bad. It was in her nature to help, not destroy...._

"Nooo!" I shouted, though I didn't know if it was at the memory or Angel's banshee like scream. I saw Max wince at the noise, but she still kept a firm grip on Angel's arms. I was about to run forward and ... well, I'm not sure what I planned on doing. But whatever it was I couldn't do it, because a giant steel cage seemed to materialize around me, making me feel instant claustrophobia.

I looked around in shock, panic squeezing my chest. I tired ignored it, along with the nausea that I felt at being in such a confined space. Of all the effed up things I'd had to deal with in my life, cages had been my least favorite. They were probably the only thing that I ...

I blinked. Once. Twice. _Fear._ That's what this was. Somehow the whitecoats or whoever was behind this had found out what we were afraid of and were making us live those fears right now.

As if on cue, Nudge started screaming bloody murder. "Rats! Rats!" she shrieked, jumping onto a counter and running from the train of large gray rodents following behind her. Wherever she went they seemed to pop up. Eventually she had no where left to run, and ended up standing there and screaming with rats running up and down her legs.

"Guys, guys!" I shouted, hoping my voice would carry through the chaos. "This can't be real! It isn't real!" I didn't really believe it though. The bars of the cage were cold to the touch and felt like concrete when I pushed against them. Just like a real cage. But I knew this couldn't be.

I looked up frantically, meeting Max's eyes. If we were facing our worse fears, then I knew Max's would be becoming something bad. But when she grinned at me then and a finger of fear trailed up my spine, I knew this wasn't Max. Not my Max anyways. Then I remembered something. Another conversation later on, after the scare about becoming an Eraser.

_...."Ari had me with him," she said faintly. "There was a me outside the window."...._

I took a deep breath. Mystery number one solved. And since this wasn't Max, we'd be able to take her down, no guilt involved.

I hoped.

I threw myself against the cage, trying to knock it over, break through it, something, _anything_, that would get me out. It was no used though, this thing was solid.

There was a loud crash and the grate from the vents fell to the floor in front of my cage. I looked up as best as I could, since the top of the cage was solid. There was a thump to my right and I turned to see Max standing up out of a crouch. And when I say Max, I mean the _real_ Max. I could tell by the glare she was giving her look-a-like. It was her glare, one that no amount of test or clones could copy.

"My invite must have gotten lost in the mail," she said, her voice dripping with venom. Speaking of dripping, she was covering in a weird oil looking liquid, making her hair stick to her face, which made her appear even scarier. "But I don't mind crashing this party."

As she finished I saw something glint behind her. On the floor, about three feet from where she was standing, was a metal box with wires sticking out the back. It looked almost like a security camera. Max must have knocked it off the wall or something. It's little green light started to fade until it was out.

And I started falling.

"Whoa!" I said, catching myself before I landing on my face. I looked around me and saw that the cage was gone. Just disappeared. I glanced at the box again before standing up. _Hm. Glad that's out of the way._

"_Max?_" Ari asked and I turned to see him gaping at her.

"_Max!_" Nudge shouted, wiping the tears from her face and smiling at her.

"Yes," both of them said. I looked between them, already knowing who was who. But I had to admit, the other Max was a pretty close copy. They had the same clothes, scars, hair, eyes, and voice. But she wasn't a perfect replica. Which is why I took a step towards the Max that had just dropped out of the ceiling, not the one who'd lead us into this hell in the first place.

"They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Max said in the sarcastic tone her clone hadn't used once today. "So I guess you're really sucking up."

"Who are _you_," Max II said (Not the best name I could give her. I'd much prefer Lucifer or Hitler, but whatever). "You're an impostor!"

_Oh Lordy,_ I thought, rolling my eyes. Iggy _does a better impression than _that.

"No, she isn't," Angel said, her arm bleeding and staining the ground around her red. "You are."

"But Angel," she said, sounding hurt, "how can you say that? You know who I am."

"I think I'm Angel," she said in a rock solid voice. "And my dog isn't stupid. You're the stupid one, to think you could fool us. I can read minds, you _idiot._"

She stared at her in shock. Wow, really? The whitecoats went through all that trouble to make this _perfect copy_, and they didn't even tell her one of us could read minds? Damn, for doctors and scientist, they're all really stupid.

"Yeah, you _idiot_," Total said, coming out from under a counter. Max II's eyes were now at the point of popping out of the sockets. Quite an interesting look, really.

As she just stood there in shock, my — I mean, the real Max started checking on all of us. Her eyes got as large as her clone's when she saw Angel's arm. I tore a strip from the bottom of my t-shirt and tied it around the wound while Max checked on the others. Nudge had some healing scratches on her legs and Gazzy had a few small bites. Iggy seemed fine, and for a moment I wondered what he'd feared, since I hadn't seen anything earlier. Total kept mumbling something about dog food, but I ignored him. Once she deemed everyone (relatively) fine, the reunion started. The kids attacked Max with hugs and questions, and Iggy and I stepped forward to hug her too.

"Fang?" she whispered in my ear.

"Yeah?" I said back, happy to have her back.

"When we get out of here," she said in a suspiciously sweet voice, "I'm going to kick your ass for letting her in my Flock."

I rolled my eyes and pulled back, watching as she whip around to face a furious looking clone.

"Okay," Max said, setting her feet shoulder length apart, ready to pounce at any second, "let's solve your personality crisis."

"I was just about to say the same thing," she snarled back. "Get your hands off my flock!"

Before any of us could scoff and call her mental, the door to the room swung open to reveal a group of whitecoats.

"Oh good, you two have met each other," a tall brunette woman said.

"Max, are you all right?" Jeb asked, stepping around the woman. He was looking at Max with a weird mix of worry and awe, like he couldn't get enough of her.

Creeper.

I saw the other Max open her mouth to answer, but then noticed that Jeb wasn't even paying attention to her. She glared between the two, and me and Iggy stepped up beside Max, making a sort of barrier between the kids, and the whitecoats, Ari, and Max II.

The other scientists just ignored Jeb (probably because he wasn't wearing one of their pretty white coats) and another came forward, this time looking at Max II.

"Take out the old version," he said. "She's no good. She's got an expiration date." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ari glaring at the whitecoat, anger and jealousy showing in his expression. Jesus, did _everyone_ want to kill Max?

Suddenly she wasn't by my side anymore. In a motion so fast I didn't see her coming, Max II had lunged over the counters and slammed into Max. She hit the wall with a thud, but instantly regained her footing.

"You don't want this," I heard Max growl. "You don't want a piece of me."

"Wrong!" Max II said.

"Uh, Max?" Gazzy said, stepping to the left of a counter. "There's something you should —"

"Shut up!" Max II shouted, throwing herself at Max again. They fell backwards onto a counter and started rolling across it. They stopped at the end, Max sitting on her clone's stomach and she punch her right in the face. But a second later Max II was able to knee Max in the stomach, throwing her off of her. They climbed to their feet and started throwing punches and kicks, moving around so much it was hard to tell which one was which.

"There can only be one Max," I heard Jeb murmur as the two of them broke apart. Max was favoring her left leg and breathing heavily. The other Max had a trickle of blood coming down from her hairline and her left eye was nearly swollen shut.

"Yeah, the real one," Ari said, standing too far away for me to lunge at him without getting into the middle of the girl's fight zone.

"Let's see if what you say about her is true, Batcheldor," said the guy who'd spoken earlier.

Max II yelled and jumped at Max, knocking her over. She jackknifed to her feet and grabbed the other Max by her hair, headbutting her so hard that she fell to the floor for a moment. But she got right back up and sent three hard punches to Max's side, making her wince more and more.

"Which one survives is up to you," Jeb said, watching them with a distant expression. "May the strongest Max win."

"Shut up, jerk!" Max shouted, but the distraction aloud the other one to knock her down. She sat of her chest and said something I couldn't hear. Max II punched her and blood started pouring out of Max's nose, trickling down her cheek and onto the cement floor.

Then Max II grabbed her throat. Max tried to struggle but nothing was working, her arms were clamped to her sides and she was gasping for air. Max II laughed like a mad woman, and I was just about to lunge at her when I met Max's gaze. Her pupils were getting smaller and her eyes less focused, but I still saw the warning there. So I stuck my ground, staring as some messed up experiment was killing my best friend.

"Max..."

Just as I said it Max bucked off Max II, putting her in the position she'd been in moments before. She sat on her clone's stomach and started choking her, her eyes filled with rage and her still wet hair plastered to her forehead. Max II grabbed at her arms, but it was like Max was made of stone. She wasn't budging an inch.

"Max?" Gazzy said. "Kind of important..."

I looked at him, finding it hard to look away from the two but still managing to do so. He kept glancing at a nearby computer, but I didn't see anything wrong with it. So I just turned back and watched Max, feeling mixed emotions about her strangling the life out of someone. On one hand, I hated Max II, and everything would be a lot easier if she was gone. On the other, she was at fault for all of this as we were. She was jst an experiment, put here so to do the whitecoat's bidding. Plus, Max was still Max, and I didn't think she'd ever be able to kill someone, evil or not.

After another ten seconds, and just when I thought Max II was gone, Max stood up, wiping her still bleeding nose across the back of her hand.

"I'm stronger," she shouted at Jeb and the other whitecoats. "Stronger than you. Because I'm not going to kill this girl for you. I won't sink to your pathetic level."

"Max," Jeb said, blinking in surprise as the rest of the Flock and I watched Max II sit up wearily, gasping for air. "There can't be two Maxes."

"Wouldn't that be Max-i?" Gazzy whispered.

"Shh," the rest of us said.

"Then you shouldn't have _made_ two of us," she said, glaring at them. "Now it's your problem."

"You don't understand," another guys said, stepping forward. "Only one of you can fulfill your mission, your destiny."

"You know," she said, walking over to stand by the rest of us, "it sounds like you guys didn't really think this all the way through. You plugged us into an equation and predicted the outcomes. Well, I got new for you, nimrod. In this equation of your, we're _variables._ We're going to _vary_. What you sick jerks don't seem to get is that I'm an _actual person_." She pointed to Max II. "She's real too. She's a person. All of us are! And I'm done jumping through your hoops. You can tell yourselves that you're doing all this to save the world, but really you're just a bunch of psycho puppet-masters who probably didn't date enough in high school."

I stared. They stared. We all stared.

Before Max could continue her speech, an alarm went off. Red lights flicked on along the walls, giving everything a sinister glow. The whitecoats were looking around frantically, moving closer and closer to Ari, and I saw him roll his eyes. Yeah, I bet it was _real_ fun playing body guard to a bunch of science geeks.

"Max?" Gazzy said for the third time. And for the third time, Max ignored him.

"We've got to get out of here," she said, looking around the room for an emergency exit. I started to feel like I had missed something, overlooked an important detail....

"Max, really —"

"_What?_" she snapped, rounding on him. "We're up the creek, if you haven't noticed! What's so _important?_"

He looked at her with such an innocent look that I just _knew_ something bad was about to happen. "_Duck._"

I was right.

Now, let's review. The Gasman is Iggy's apprentice in all things that go _boom._ So when either one of them says "duck", you should listen. Because it usually meant that you or something nearby was about to explode.

And that's when I realized where I was standing. Not three feet away was the spot under the counter where Iggy and Gazzy had been setting up our "emergency escape". And now I knew why I had felt like I was forgetting something. Because I was.

All of that went zipping through my mind in about, eh, two seconds. The exact amount of time it took Max and the others to dive out of the way and for the bomb to go off.

But I was still standing.

Say it with me: Crap.

The boom was deafening, so much so that I was too focused on the intense ringing in my ears to enjoy my little flight through mid air and, eventually, the wall behind me. I imagined I looked sort of like one of those crash test dummies, just a lot more breakable. My shoulders hit the wall first, breaking through the plaster. The rest of me went through right after it, the only part left outside of the wall were my feet.

Yeah, _ow._

The impact of my head hitting a support beam — the only thing that kept me from flying into the next room — knocked me unconscious, though only for a second. When I came to I heard Max's panicked shouting. "_Report!_" she yelled. I heard some other voices, but I couldn't hear them over the pounding in my head. I groaned a bit as I tried to get up, sitting on the little ledge I'd made in the wall.

"Here," I said, rubbing the back of my head which was extremely tender. I climbed out of the hole and turned around to see that it was in the shape of my head and shoulders and most of my back.

If I hadn't felt like barfing my guts out from nausea, I may have laughed.

"That was so _awesome!_" the Gasman shouted, jumping up from a pile of rubble.

"I give it a solid ten," Iggy said, standing as well. "Just for the sonic blast alone."

I could hear shouting and the unsteady pounding of feat from outside the door. I skimmed over the Flock, not seeing anything too serious injury wise, but I did noticed the gaping hole that had appeared in the far wall. It lead right into the forests, with just enough room for us to take off.

"Oh, excellent," Nudge said.

"You got that right," Max said, grinning widely as she walked over to Gazzy. "Way to _be_," she said, giving him a high five. He straightened up a bit, looking pleased with her reaction.

"Max?" I glanced at Angel, who was covering in dust from head to toe. The only color on her were her big blue eyes, looking up at Max with a tired happiness in them.

"Yeah, sweetie?" she said.

"Are we leaving now?"

"Oh, yeah," she answered, grinning. "We're gonna —"

"_Blow this joint!_" we shouted with her, our old saying making me smile.

"Total!" Max clapped her hands and the little dog practically flew into her arms. And in the next few seconds we were jumping into the sky, flying.

We flew in a random direction, not really caring where we ended up. We just wanted to be _away_, with Itex as far behind us as possible.

"Hey," I said, gliding up to Max. The rest of the Flock were flying and talking happily in front of us, and Total was asleep in Max's jacket.

She smiled sleepily. "Hey yourself."

"What happened?" I asked, looking pointedly at her wet clothes, damp hair, and soggy wings.

She sighed, something passing over her face. I would have thought it was fear if it hadn't been Max I was talking to.

"It was ... a tank. I was ... it ... ugh. I hated it. It was just so ...." she trailed off, shuddering.

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked, flying a bit closer so our wings brushed on the down stroke.

"No," she answered simply.

"_Will_ you?"

There was silence as she thought. "Someday," she said, glancing at me. "Just not today."

I nodded, and we continued in silence. I didn't really care if she told me or not, I was just happy to have her back.

And so we flew, disappearing into the wonderfully clichéd sunset.

* * *

**-sniffle-**

**You know what I just realized?**

**Iggy and Max II are a lot better at hiding than I thought.**

**You know what else?**

**This is the second to last chapter. All that's left is the Epilogue. Again, -sniffle-  
**

**And those two better be back here by then. I want to end this like I started it: with no clue what I'm doing and the best OC ever by my side.**

**And, you know, a ton of reviews. :D  
**


	81. An Epilogue of Lukewarm Soda

**Me:**** Guess what? Max and Iggy II came back. Guess what else? They brought the whole Flock.**

**Angel: -gets really close to screen- Ooooh, what's this?**

**Nudge: -pokes computer- My powers are telling me that Sam's used this lately.**

**Me: -mutters- No duh ...**

**Gazzy: Ooh! Can I make a bomb out of it?**

**Max: Gazzy! Don't you** **d**— **... Do smell cookies?**

**Fang: No, it's just my new cologne.**

**Max: -gasp- OMG! I must kiss you! -runs off to make out with Fang-**

**Total: You call this food? No, it will not do. I refuse to eat anything this fattening unless it is a Canadian BigMac delivered by Chuck Norris himself.  
**

**Iggy: -sneaks away to make bomb out of Sam's computer with Gazzy-**

**Iggy II & Max II: -evil smile-**

**Me: -_- ...Yay....**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

**

* * *

**

**Fang POV (141, the final chapter)**

I have a question. A strictly rhetorical question that has no realistic value. In fact, I have no idea why I'm asking it. Because it has absolutely _nothing_ to do with me.

Um ... anyways.

So my question is: Can you know someone your entire life and feel the exact same way about them every single moment, and then after one itty bitty life or death situation see them completely different?

Not that that applies to me. I was just wondering, you know ... for a friend ...

"Yoohoo," Max said, waving her hand in front of my face and making me blink in surprise. "Earth to Fang."

I glanced down at her, giving her an apologetic look. We were still sitting in front of the dieing fire, only just recovering from some lame joke I'd told. We'd been under so much stress lately that it made it seem like the most hilarious thing ever. So there we'd been sitting, laughing (yes, _both_ of us) for about ten minutes straight. But I had to admit, it felt nice to laugh after all the crap going on lately.

"You okay?" Max asked, once again snapping me out of my thoughts. I nodded, poking at the fire and picking up the soda we were sharing. Sometime during our laughing fit I had ended up leaning back against a fallen tree trunk with Max's head on my shoulder. The Flock were sleeping soundly around us, their soft snores barely audible over the crackling of the fire.

I nodded once, staring into the red and orange flames, watching as they licked at the surrounding darkness and encased us in a small bubble of light and warmth.

"Whoa," Max breathed as the fire shot into the air when I moved a log aside.

"Air pocket," I said, remembering when Iggy told me that little fact. I knew it had only been a few days ago, but after everything today it seemed like years.

"How do you know?" she asked, taking the soda out of my hand as I was bringing it to my lips.

"Iggy," I answered simply.

"Ah," she said, nodding and not needing any further explanation.

We sat in silence for a while. But it was comfortable and nice. I think we were both sort of wrapped up in our own thoughts at the moment. I was mainly stressing because Max still hadn't opened up about the whole tank experience. Though from the snippets of information I'd gotten, I could tell it hadn't been nice.

Max sighed contently, swirling the soda can. The last of the lukewarm liquid made a soft sloshing sound.

"You're gonna make it go flat," I said, letting my eyes close lazily. Something cool pressed against my ear and I heard a loud fizzing noise. I tried swatting the can away, but she kept it there.

"What?" she said. "Does that bug you?"

Times like these are what make me rethink Max's supposed maturity.

"Get it off my ear," I said, pushing the soda can away.

"It's not near your ear, it's in my hand."

"Get what's in your hand away from my ear."

She laughed, bringing the can to her mouth. But I snatched it away from her before she could take a drink. She didn't object, just sat there as we stared into the fire.

"Things are different," I said without thinking. It was just one of those moments where you feel compelled to admit something dramatic and poetic. Or in other words, turn a comfortable moment into one of extreme awkwardness.

Max, however, took my observation better than I expected. "Yeah," she said. "But things have been getting weirder for a while now."

I looked down at her, surprised that she'd noticed it too. I'd realized awhile ago that Max's and my relationship had been changing. Becoming more comfortable in some places and more strained in others. It was among the many things I had put a pin in and tried to forget for the time being. But it was also one of those issues that you can't ignore, and I guess Max had realized that too.

"What are we gonna do?" I asked quietly.

She shrugged, her shoulder pushing into my arm slightly, since her head was still on my shoulder. "I don't know. Take Itex down. Save the world. Give Gazzy a bath."

I looked at her in confusion, but she was still looking at the fire. What did Itex and Gazzy's hygene (or lack thereof) have to do with us?

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

She looked up at me, giving me a weird look. "What are _you_ talking about?"

"I asked first."

"I'm leader."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Fine. I'm older, stronger, and have better hair." She punctuated that by flipping her hair dramatically.

"That can be argued," I said, happy that we had moved into more familiar waters of conversation.

"Whatever. I'll get you to tell me someday." She sounded so sure of her self that I laughed.

"What?" she asked, pulling back and sounding defensive.

"Nothing," I said, still smiling. "I just can't believe you don't already know." Wait, what? _I_ didn't even know.

She blushed a little, making me smirk. She scowled halfheartedly but then lowered her head back onto the crook of my neck. "I'm tired," she stated.

"Want me to sing you to sleep?" I asked.

"Want my to cook you breakfast?" she retorted.

"Touché."

She smiled and closed her eyes. I still had the soda in my hand and I sloshed the liquid around a bit, waiting for her to fall asleep. Soon enough her breathing had evened out, a smile still faintly on her lips. The fire threw shadows of her long lashes onto her high cheek bones, and her dirty blond hair turned a light golden copper. She looked ... pretty.

I sighed in frustration, running a hand through my hair and nearly dumping the soda on me in the process, since I'd forgotten it was still in my hand. As lame as it sounded, mine and Max's relationship was sort of like this soda. It was nice while it lasted, kept us going for a while. But I knew we'd need more than that to keep going. We couldn't last forever on one soda. And from the looks of it, it was almost gone.

But I wouldn't push it. Max was stressed enough and had a lot to worry about. But I knew she had at least _started_ to notice the changes between us. The flash of emotion in her eyes whenever I'd been with Lissa were the same as I'd had when she was with Sam. Jealous, confused, a little hurt. All the great things that came with being hormonal teenage mutant bird kids.

Only thing was, I was willing to except this. Max on the other hand, would be a different story. She was way too stubborn for her own good. But her real problem would be her fear of change. And I knew she'd hold onto this soda for as long as she could.

But we'd be okay. For now at least. And as I looked up at the stars and waited for the sun to rise, I enjoyed the last of our innocent childhood feelings.

Just as I downed the last of our lukewarm soda.

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**AWWW! YAY-NESS! I hope y'all understood that last part. If not, then, well ... you're stupid. And there's nothing I can do for you :P  
**

**Anywho, I'm really sad now. I mean, I'm still going to be writing stories and stuff. But this is my first multi-chapter onr, and I'm gonna miss writing it. But just know that I couldn't have done it without all you awesome readers and your fabby reviews. This was your story too, and I'm really sad it's ending.  
**

**And to answer a question I've been getting a lot lately: I have no idea if I'll do the rest of the books in Fang's POV. I'm working on another story right now, and I've already seen other people writing the other books. Maybe another time though. **

**Also, I have someone very special who is going to help me sign off on this wonderful fanfiction that I sincerely consider my baby. Jammies? Let him in.**

**Jammies: -opens door-**

**Flock: -gasp-**

**Iggy's: What?**

**Santa: Hello, Iggy's.**

**Iggy II: O.o No. You didn't.**

**Me: I did.**

**Santa: -while enforcing a group hug with the Iggy's- For the last and final time on this lovely story: **

**_Review._  
**


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